Terrorists attack village in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique

MAPUTO, Mozambique

A terrorist group burnt down 15 houses in an attack on Friday morning against the village of Nova Zambezia, in Macomia district in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, reports Monday’s issue of the independent newssheet “Carta de Mocambique”.

The village is 30 kilometres from Macomia town, and near the road linking Macomia to other districts in the northern part of Cabo Delgado – Mocimboa da Praia, Palma, Nangade, Muidumbe and Mueda.

It is also ten kilometres from the Fifth Congress village, where a unit of the Mozambican armed forces (FADM) is stationed.

“The attackers came from the side of the Fifth Congress, and that’s where the soldiers have their base. It’s strange”, said one source quoted by the paper.

Another villager said “We were convinced this wouldn’t happen again because there are soldiers in Macomia town.

After the Friday attack, the villagers fled into the bush – reliving an experience they had hoped would never happen again.

A report in a second newssheet, “Mediafax”, said that the raiders caught one villager in nearby fields and beheaded him.

“Mediafax” also reported that, across the provincial boundary, in Niassa, the administrator of Mecula district, Antonio Paulo, has tried to stop public officials from leaving the district in the wake of the terrorist attack on 25 November against a village 150 kilometres from Mecula town.

At a meeting on Friday with local workers of the public administration, Paulo said no-one should flee from Mecula, since the defence and security forces are guaranteeing security in the town and the surrounding villages.

Anyone leaving the town was doing so at his own risk, the administrator warned, even suggesting that those who wanted to leave might be intent on joining the terrorists.

Paulo promised that, if the district government were to note any signs of danger, it would instruct residents on the measures they should take. In the meantime, they should remain calm and focus on their work. Anyone who had already left Mecula should return to their jobs at once, he said.

“Mediafax” reports that Mecula town is currently calm. A unit of the defence forces arrived on Saturday, and was sent to the area of Macalange, where gunfire had been heard.