Africa-Press – Mozambique. Paramilitary forces from the districts of Meluco and Macomia in the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado have been pursuing alleged terrorist groups through the region’s forests in recent days, a source linked to the operations told Lusa on Monday.
The source explained that the pursuit took place last week until Friday, starting in the Lunho area in Meluco district and continuing to the community of Nguida in Macomia.
‘A force had left headquarters for there, some from Nguida went down to the village of Nkóe, and they encountered them as they passed through the lowlands towards the Macomia-Chai road. They may have crossed over to Catupa, their central base,’ reported the same source from Meluco, referring to the pursuit along National Road N380, one of the few paved roads in the region.
According to the same source, the current atmosphere in the two districts is calm and has returned to normal after a series of attacks in recent weeks.
‘At the moment, everything is quiet, and movement is back to normal,’ he concluded, referring to the return of miners to local mines.
Last April, groups of alleged terrorists carried out several attacks in the communities of Chicomo and Iba, as well as in the Ravia mines in Meluco.
Since October 2017, the gas-rich province of Cabo Delgado has been facing an armed rebellion with attacks claimed by movements associated with the extremist group Islamic State.
The latest major attack took place on 10 and 11 May 2024, at the district headquarters of Macomia, with around a hundred insurgents looting the town, causing several deaths and heavy fighting with the Mozambican Defence and Security Forces and Rwandan military personnel supporting Mozambique in the fight against the rebels.
In 2024 alone, at least 349 people died in attacks by Islamic extremist groups in northern Mozambique, an increase of 36% over the previous year, according to a study released by the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies (ACSS), an academic institution of the US Department of Defence.
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