By Celestino Carlos
Pemba (MOZTIMES) – Twenty-seven (27) members of the traditional Naparama militia group were killed on Sunday in the district of Chiúre, in southern Cabo Delgado, during clashes with Islamic State-backed jihadist insurgents.
According to local sources, the confrontation took place in the forests of Katapua Administrative Post, in Chiúre district, shortly after the insurgents had set fire to the village of Messanja.
The Naparama are an ethnically based militia composed mainly of young men from the Makua ethnic group in southern Cabo Delgado. They organise themselves to defend their communities against the insurgency, amid the inability of government security forces to respond effectively to the conflict.
However, in their operations, the Naparama use rudimentary weapons such as machetes, bows and arrows, placing them at a disadvantage against insurgents equipped with sophisticated firearms.
During Sunday’s confrontation, the Naparama were attempting to halt the insurgents’ advance into their communities and mobilised in large numbers to repel the attackers.
“The pursuit of the insurgents began after they left Messanja at 04:00 and only ended at 16:00, after the group crossed the Megaruma River towards Ancuabe district,” a member of the Naparama told the MOZTIMES correspondent in Chiúre.
Following the clash, the Islamic State terrorist group claimed to have killed 26 members of the militia, according to a statement released on Monday morning by its propaganda agency Amaq.
Later on Monday afternoon, a Naparama source told MOZTIMES in Chiúre that 27 bodies of militia members had been found in the area where the confrontation took place. “This is the number of bodies located on the ground, and they were buried in a mass grave right there in the bush,” the source explained.
“On the terrorists’ side, the exact number of deaths in the clash remains unknown. During the searches, only three bodies belonging to members of that armed group were found,” the same source added.
This is the highest number of Naparama members killed at once in Cabo Delgado in clashes with insurgents. The previous case occurred in July last year in the village of Melija, in the same district of Chiúre, when members of the militia were killed by insurgents during an armed confrontation.
Read also… Insurgents Kill 18 Naparama Militiamen in Chiúre
The Naparama believe in the power of traditional medicine to protect themselves against armed attacks by insurgents. The high number of deaths and injuries among militia members is often explained within the group as the result of alleged internal betrayal or the incorrect use of traditional medicine.
The Defence and Security Forces (FDS) were deployed to Chiúre to prevent the insurgents from reaching the district headquarters town, but they did not become directly involved in the clashes in the forests that resulted in the massacre of Naparama militia members.
The involvement of the Naparama in the fight against the insurgency represents one of the most visible ethnic dimensions of the conflict, which is driven by insurgents predominantly from the Mwani ethnic group, originating from the coastal regions of Cabo Delgado, and has disproportionately affected inland communities, mainly Makua and Makonde. (CC)
