Africa-Press – Mozambique. Islamist terrorists have attacked the administrative post of Odinepa, in Erati district, in the northern Mozambican province of Nampula, after crossing the Lúrio River, from Chiúre district, in the neighbouring province of Cabo Delgado.
According to Monday’s issue of the independent newsheet “Carta de Moçambique”, the terrorists carried out at least three attacks, between Thursday and Friday, against the Erati communities of Manica, Nessiua and Mitaka, where they burned houses and forced several families to move to safer areas.
On Friday and Saturday, the paper says, Islamic State propaganda outlets confirmed the attacks in those communities, where they killed one person and burned houses and churches.
According to one source, when the terrorists raided the region, they had to confront the Mozambican Defence and Security Forces (FDS). The confrontation resulted in injuries on both sides and the terrorists were trapped on Mount Kutua.
The same source added that two alleged terrorists fleeing the pursuing FDS were captured and taken to the authorities near the village of Sala, when they tried to infiltrate the population.
A video viewed by the paper shows several families leaving their villages for safe areas in Erati.
However, the Erati District Administrator, Manuel Manussa, tried to minimize the attacks in the region, saying that there were no civilian deaths. He considers these attacks to be “lies” to create unrest among the population.
On the other hand, the terrorist attacks forced the evacuation of the voter registration brigades in some parts of Chiúre district.
The withdrawal of the brigades and their respective materials took place during the final stretch of voter registration ahead of the presidential, parliamentary and provincial elections scheduled for 9 October.
Voter registration ended on Sunday across the country. However, the government has postponed voter registration in the Cabo Delgado district of Quissanga until May, due to the extreme violence carried out by the jihadists.
“The brigades had been evacuated due to the terrorist actions, but this did not jeopardize the overall target that the district had planned to register”, said a source from the Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat (STAE) in Chiúre.
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