By MOZTIMES
- Since late April, the Islamist militants have been moving from north to south, attacking villages without resistance from government forces
PEMBA (MOZTIMES) – Insurgents who, since 30 April, have entered the territory of Ancuabe district in southern Cabo Delgado, carried out another attack on Friday (8), killing at least four people and burning houses.
The attack took place at around 4 p.m. in the village of Namacuili, in the far south of the Metoro administrative post, about 40 kilometres from the district headquarters of Ancuabe.
“The attacked village borders Chiúre, and they did not leave a single house standing,” a local source said. “First, they killed the people they found in the village and then burned the houses,” the source added.
Regarding the fatalities, the source said an exact count had not yet been established, but by Friday evening, four deaths had been confirmed, all male. Residents of Namacuili village are fleeing the area.
A religious leader based in the headquarters of the Metoro administrative post said that, over the past three days, people travelling to their farms had been warned about the presence of insurgents coming from the Meza administrative post.
Since the last week of April, the insurgents have launched a new incursion into Ancuabe district, in a sporadic southward movement that has occurred at least once a year since 2022.
Earlier this week, as part of this southward advance, the armed groups burned dozens of houses on Tuesday afternoon (5) in the village of Nacoja, in the Meza administrative post of Ancuabe district.
The previous week, another attack took place in the Minheune area, where the insurgents set fire to the building of a historic Catholic mission, among other destruction.
A few days later, the Islamic State terrorist organisation claimed responsibility for the church attack, releasing images of the large building engulfed in flames.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Community of Mozambique issued a statement condemning the attack and expressing solidarity with the Christian communities whose place of worship was burned.
Speaking to journalists on Thursday in Pemba, the Secretary of State in Cabo Delgado, Fernando Bemane de Sousa, assured that military units had been deployed to the affected areas following the insurgent incursions in Minheune, Ancuabe district. However, the insurgents continue to carry out attacks without any reported clashes with the Defence and Security Forces, a situation that has been repeated year after year since 2022. (MT)
