By MOZTIMES
Pemba (MOZTIMES) – Traffic on National Road Number 380 (N380) in northern Macomia, Cabo Delgado, was restored on Friday (28 March) following an operation by Rwandan troops that dismantled insurgent groups who had set up roadblocks, stopped vehicles, and abducted people along the route.
The Rwandan intervention led to the capture of two insurgents near the village of Nova Zambézia, in the Chai administrative post, Macomia district.
Prior to the operation, the insurgents had released a driver who had been kidnapped on 27 March and held in captivity for four hours. The victim was freed upon payment of a ransom amounting to 100,000 meticais. The initial demand was 400,000 meticais, but negotiations led to a reduced amount, according to a local source.
Despite the temporary normalisation of traffic along the N380, the terrorist threat remains in the region. New attacks were reported between northern Macomia and southern Mocímboa da Praia. On the night of 28 March, insurgents attacked a group of fishermen at Lake Nguri, in Miangalewa village, Muidumbe district. The attack forced the fishermen to flee. Some survivors managed to reach the administrative post of Chitunda, while others remain missing.
In Awasse, Mocímboa da Praia district, an insurgent attack was repelled on the morning of 29 March by Local Force militias. Three individuals suspected of being members of the insurgent group were intercepted by the Local Force, accused of carrying out reconnaissance activities in the village. During the ensuing clash, one suspect was killed, another was captured, and the third managed to escape. The captured individual was handed over to the Mozambican Police (PRM). The incident temporarily disrupted traffic on the roads linking Awasse to Mueda and Awasse to Mocímboa da Praia, with normal circulation restored later that night.
On the morning of 28 March, the lifeless body of a man was found in the farming zone of Awasse. The victim was identified as a local resident who had gone out to work in the fields near the residential area. Witnesses reported that the man was accompanied by another individual whose whereabouts remain unknown, raising suspicions of abduction by insurgents.
Despite joint efforts by Rwandan and local forces, the insurgent threat continues to affect the population in Cabo Delgado, keeping the region in a state of constant alert. (MT)
