Amiss saw his son lead a rebellion that devastated the land he fought for.

Standing among the ruins of the main hospital in Mocímboa da Praia, where the war in Cabo Delgado began, Amiss Momade reflects on the memory of the son who rejected him to lead the insurgency that devastated the land he fought for.

“My son was one of the instructors [dos rebeldes]. He [um dos] leaders who started the war. It was he who instructed his colleagues how to handle a pistol, a machete or a knife,” a former participant in the colonial liberation struggle confessed to Lusa, sitting at the door of what remained of the Mocimboa da Praia district hospital. The infrastructure was also destroyed by the rebels terrorizing the province of Cabo -Delgado.

At the hand of his son, Amiss Momade, 74, watched helplessly as the land he had fought for against the Portuguese colonial regime for about 10 years was drenched in innocent blood, even though he had warned authorities about it. “Islamic radicalization”, which was propagated by a group trained by his own boy, even before the first attack on the Mocimboa da Praia headquarters on October 5, 2017.

“I did not remain silent, I warned the structures [administrativas]. I told the former administrator and the former police chief that my son is in this group and that he is an instructor,” said Amiss, who also tried to convince the young man to give up leading the rebel groups.

Mohmed’s father describes him as a boy whose youth was spent studying, but the “Islamic radicalization” that was already being propagated among unopposed youth in the interior of Mocimboa da Praia eventually pushed him into the ranks of the rebels. whose motives were never clear to Amiss.

“I tried to find out from him what the group wanted. Those who wage war always want something. I asked him who their leader was. He didn’t say anything to me until he disappeared and went into the bushes. […] He rejected me,” lamented Amiss Momade, saying his son burned down the family home before disappearing.

Away from his studies and family, Momed became an “instructor” for dozens of young rebels before the war began in October 2017, preaching rebellion against the state at popular training sessions in the Nanduadua region.

Little is known about Momed today. Some believe he was shot down by government forces in Milamba, in the Quiterajo administrative post of Macomia district, 131 kilometers from Mocimboa da Praia, but his father has doubts.

“I didn’t try to find out if it was true because he rejected me,” said Amiss Momade, adding that if the information turns out to be false, he fears Momade and his group will look for him any day in Mocimboa da -Praya.

Although this does not happen, Amiss and the thousands of residents who had to flee Mocimboa da Praia are trying to start their lives again without the sound of bullets, but traces of violence remain in every corner of the area, which is now patrolled by the Rwandans. forces that, together with the armies of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), supported Mozambique in the fight against rebels in Cabo Delgado.

In total, about 62 thousand people, almost the entire population, have fled the coastal village due to the conflict that began six years ago, with a focus on mass escapes that occurred after the intensification of rebel activities in June 2020.

After several months in the “hands” of the rebels, Mocímboa da Praia was sacked and almost all public and private infrastructure was destroyed, as well as power, water, communications and hospitals.

Cabo Delgado province has faced armed insurgency for six years, with the extremist group Islamic State claiming responsibility for some attacks.

On the ground they are fighting terrorism – in attacks that have been occurring since October 2017 and which are affecting the progress of natural gas projects in the region – Mozambican Armed Defense Forces, since July 2021 with the support of Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) .

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the conflict in northern Mozambique has already displaced one million people and nearly 4,000 deaths, according to the ACLED Conflict Record Project, while Mozambique’s president recently admitted that “more than 2,000 people have died” Human”. .