Farmers find bodies of suspected terrorists in Cabo Delgado

Farmers from Namigure, Macomia district, Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, told Luce on Friday that they had found two bodies of suspected terrorists in local forests.

The two bodies, which they link to rebel groups operating in the region, were found on Wednesday morning in a forest near a farm field by two farmers who were looking for firewood in the area.

“Both bodies were male, but I don’t know their exact age. And we don’t know whether they are people from Macomia or not,” a source from the area said.

He added that they are suspected of being rebel groups because they are located near an area where government and Rwandan forces recently moved in to maintain order.

“The area itself is Namigure, but not far from Mukojo. We know there was an operation a few days ago,” he said.

About two weeks ago, Mozambican and Rwandan troops launched an operation around the administrative post of Mukoho, 40 kilometers from Macomia.

Farmers subsequently reported heavy fighting in the Mukoyo area, a situation that forced some farmers to abandon their homes for fear of possible attack.

Since October 2017, Cabo Delgado has been the scene of an armed uprising, with attacks blamed on movements linked to the extremist group Islamic State.

The last major attack took place on 10 and 11 May on the Macomia district headquarters, when about a hundred rebels looted the town, resulting in several deaths and heavy fighting with the Mozambican Defence and Security Forces.

The population of other areas of the province reports the movement of these groups of rebels, causing panic along the way, in the forests, but without any records of clashes, which occurs at a time when the peasants are trying to carry out harvesting work in the fields of cultivation.

Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi said on June 16 that the actions of various defence forces had eliminated “virtually all” terrorist group bases operating in Cabo Delgado.

“The result of this unification of forces is amazing. They managed to disable the terrorists in all the occupied cities and villages, destroy almost all the enemy’s stationary bases, turning them into nomads, and eliminate many militant extremists from the battle, including some of their main leaders,” Nyusi said in Mueda, Cabo Delgado province.

The Head of State praised the efforts of the Mozambique Defence Forces, together with the Rwandan military, the South African mission that completed the full withdrawal of troops on 4 July, and the Local Forces, made up of former national liberation fighters, in combating these groups over the past six years.

“They are there in the bushes, but they no longer stay in one place because they are afraid of being found,” he also said, renewing his call for the population to “continue to increase vigilance.”