An armed group burned several houses in the town of Mapate, in a low-lying area of the Muidumbe region in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, local community sources confirmed to Luse on Tuesday.
“They came around 11:00, some of us were in the production fields because it was raining here. Then we saw some people, including children, running away, and they told us that the village was on fire,” he said one source from the locality said the attack took place on November 16.
The attack forced the population to evacuate to the village of Mandawa, in the upper Muidumbe district.
“They burned a lot of houses. It’s sad, we were rebuilding our lives,” he lamented.
Meanwhile, a team of military personnel and members of local forces were sent to investigate the situation in the locality, confirming destruction but no loss of life.
“We did find burnt houses, but they didn’t kill anyone. The population is now returning and is under control,” a local force source said.
Residents of the villages of Mapate, Mandela and Malangonya, located 40 kilometers from the district headquarters of Muidumbe, are concerned about the situation, especially since this is not the first time that armed groups have attacked the area, and have asked authorities to install a fixed security team.
“We are tired of running away, we are asking for a position from the Defense and Security Forces or reinforcements from local forces,” appealed a 76-year-old man who had contact with Lusa from Mandawa.
Last week, armed groups entered the communities of Chitoyo, Novo Cabo Delgado and Litandacqua; no deaths were recorded, but the population fled the villages, taking refuge in the Macomia district headquarters.
Cabo Delgado province has faced an armed insurgency for six years, with the fundamentalist group Islamic State claiming responsibility for some attacks.
The insurgency has led to a military response since July 2021, supported by Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), liberating areas near gas projects, but new waves of attacks have emerged in the south of the region and in the neighboring province on the Nampula side.
The conflict has already displaced one million people, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and nearly 4,000 people have died, according to the ACLED Conflict Recording Project.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I am Michael Melvin, an experienced news writer with a passion for uncovering stories and bringing them to the public. I have been working in the news industry for over five years now, and my work has been published on multiple websites. As an author at 24 News Reporters, I cover world section of current events stories that are both informative and captivating to read.