Suspected terrorist collaborator detained in Cabo Delgado

Mozambican police have detained in the Ancuabe region a person suspected of carrying out surveillance in favor of terrorist groups operating in the province of Cabo Delgado, public sources told Lusa this Monday.

Speaking to Lusa, a community leader from Sunate, a town also known as Silva Macua in Anquaba, confirmed that the alleged terrorist member served as a vigilante, controlling the movement of the Defense and Security Forces (DSF) and the population.

“Yesterday [domingo] A member of the terrorists was captured and carried out intelligence work to inform his colleagues about the movements of the FSB and the population. He was found on the top of a tree, near industrial fields, just a few meters from the center of the city of Sunate,” said an anonymous community leader.

He added that the suspect, who speaks only the local Kimwani language, when approached by authorities, suggested that he was monitoring the movements of the Defense and Security Forces and the population to inform his colleagues while the military tries to maintain a siege against rebel groups.

“He only speaks Kimwani and admitted that he was there to investigate the movements of the GSS and the population so that the group would not be exposed to any risk,” the same source detailed.

Last Friday, a group of nearly 50 terrorists were spotted by the public crossing National Road 1 (N1) between Nanlia and Ipriri villages in Metuge district, according to the same community leader, with local sources suspecting that the group had headed to neighboring Nampula province, allegedly to recruiting new members.

The movement of terrorist groups in recent days has also been observed in Kisanga County, near agricultural fields near Metuge County, causing panic and forcing the people of Nampipi to abandon their activities.

Local and community leaders acknowledge that the terrorist movement is linked to the crackdown carried out by the Defense and Security Forces in Macomia, Kisanga and Muidumbe counties.

Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi visited the Rapid Reaction Force (FIR) positions in Metugue district, Cabo Delgado province, devastated by armed groups on Friday, acknowledging that terrorists are now trying to use “other forms of destabilization.” .

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.