More killings in Cabo Delgado raise fear

MAPUTO, Mozambique

People in southern Cabo Delgado, a Mozambican province that has been the scene of armed violence for five years, reported the discovery of four dead locals on Wednesday.

A resident of Mbonge, in Ancuabe district, witnessed the collection of the bodies of two inhabitants of the village, father and son, found dead with signs of violence on the path that connects the fields and the houses.

“The victims lived in the village and were returning from the ‘machamba’ (vegetable garden) during the afternoon,” on Tuesday, he reported.

According to the same source, the bodies were found on the banks of the Muaguide river, hours after residents found the delay of both strange. This raised suspicions given the insecurity in Ancuabe, with attacks since June.

The district is about 100 kilometres from Pemba, the provincial capital.

Another resident in Metoro, in the same district, told about relatives of an elderly couple found dead in a vegetable garden 10 kilometres from the population centre, also showing signs of aggression.

“We are crying” about the situation, he said, and there is “fear” of returning to the ‘machambas’, said another resident.

Different local sources confirmed the case.

The population and local authorities suspect that these killings near the Muaguide river and in the surroundings of Metoro are the work of an armed group hiding in the woods of that area.

On Monday, an unidentified group of hooded men with guns looted and burnt houses in Nacuale, another village in the district.

An insurgent movement whose origins remain unclear has terrorised Cabo Delgado since October 2017.

A military offensive with support from several African countries liberated areas around gas projects in northern Cabo Delgado a year ago, but scattered groups have attacked elsewhere in the province.

Since June, violence has hit the Ancuabe area to the south, near Pemba, the provincial capital.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warned in July of the severity of these new attacks, causing 36,000 displaced people in districts hitherto considered safe.

The figure is in addition to the approximately 800,000 displaced people already affected by the wave of violence, with the death toll estimated at least 4,000 victims. - Lusa