Rebels attack Mocimboa da Praia again

Armed groups that had been terrorizing Cabo Delgado province returned on Wednesday to attack the Mocimboa da Praia area, public sources told Lusa.

The attack occurred around 15:00 (13:00 in Lisbon) in the community of Ntotwe, a few kilometers from Awasse, where one of the positions of Rwandan forces supporting Mozambique in the fight against rebel groups in Cabo Delgado is located. tune.

“They invaded the shops, took food and other goods from the population and disappeared. So far I have no information about the dead,” a local resident who took refuge in the Awasse administrative post told Lusa.

A new rebel incursion into Mocimboa da Praia forced the residents of Ntotwe to flee to the administrative post of Awasse, although it merited an immediate response from Mozambican and Rwandan forces in the region.

“We saw Rwandan and Mozambican soldiers there,” another source told Lusa, adding that rebels had invaded the area and looted shops but then fled and some people gradually returned to the town.

“At least three people fled my house because of the attack, but they are already returning to Ntotwe,” another resident told Lusa.

The town of Ntotwe, located just over 100 kilometers from the headquarters of Mocimboa da Praia, is located along the national road number 380, one of the few paved roads in the region that connects to the northernmost areas of Cabo Delgado, where they stand at anchor. Rovuma gas projects.

The area of ​​Mocimboa da Praia in northern Cabo Delgado became the first target of terrorists on October 5, 2017, after which rebels attacked other parts of the province.

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 an armed insurgency for six years, with some attacks claimed by the Islamic State extremist group, leading to a military response from July 2021 backed by Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). liberation of areas near gas projects.

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.

On November 22, Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi asked for “decisions” on the military’s response capabilities in Cabo Delgado, especially with reservists, given the planned withdrawal of foreign forces supporting terrorist groups on the ground.

Last August, the SADC summit approved the extension of the Cabo Delgado Mission (CAMIM) for 12 months until July this year.

Last July, an assessment mission proposed a complete withdrawal of SAM soldiers from Cabo Delgado by July 2024, noting that the situation in the province is “currently calm” despite prevailing risks.

In its recommendations, the assessment mission recommended that the withdrawal of SAMIM begin gradually from 15 December 2023 and complete the withdrawal on 15 July 2024, a day before the end of the extension period determined by the SADC troika.

In addition to SAMIM and Mozambican government forces, Rwandan troops are fighting insurgents in Cabo Delgado, operating along the perimeter of the area where gas projects are taking place in the Rovuma Basin.