Five rebels were killed by militants in a northern Mozambique province of Cabo Delgado after they began “burning houses.” One civilian and two members of the local force were injured.
Militias from Cabo Delgado, in northern Mozambique, announced Wednesday that they had killed five rebels during clashes that took place on Tuesday in the town of Nacala, 50 kilometers from the Mueda district headquarters.
“We fired because they started burning houses,” said one of the members of the so-called “local force”, of which two elements were injured, along with a civilian.
The village is located between two others (Nanhala and Chude) that have taken in displaced people fleeing rebel attacks 2022. Another source from the “local force” assured that the exchanges of fire continued until 7 in the morning this Wednesday (5 in the morning in Lisbon) and that the situation was already controlled by the militias.
The clashes have caused many people to flee to Mueda since Tuesday, denounced a 43-year-old woman, mother of five children, who decided to seek safety at the district headquarters.
The province of Cabo Delgado has been facing an armed insurgency for five years with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.
The insurgency has provoked a military response since July 2021 with support from Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), liberating districts next to gas projects, but new waves of attacks have emerged in the south of the region and in the neighboring province of Nampula.
The conflict has already displaced a million people, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and around 4,000 deaths, according to ACLED’s conflict registry project.
Source: Observadora
