Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Mozambican army said on Thursday it had rescued at least 280 women and children who were kidnapped by a group calling themselves “Naparamas”, traditional warriors historically respected in the communities of northern and central Mozambique.
“There were more than 280 women and children at this base and these women were procured here in the villages of the administrative post of Sabe [in Zambézia province]. (…) These criminals were already creating unrest here in the district of Morrumbala, on National Road Number 1,” Brigadier Bernardo Ntchokomala told the media after the victims were rescued.
According to Mozambican authorities, the group held the women and children captive for more than two weeks at a former Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) guerrillas base located in Sabe administrative post, Morrumbala district, in the central province of Zambézia.
According to Bernardo Ntchokomala, the victims were being trained by the kidnappers, although it is not clear what the group intended with these exercises.
“Women were being raped in front of their husbands,” added the Mozambican army officer, reiterating that these were not true Naparamas. “These are criminals,” he stressed.
The Naparamas are Mozambican paramilitaries that emerged in the 1980s, during the civil war, combining traditional knowledge and mystical elements to fight their enemies, acting as a community.
Historically, the Naparama are seen as a force that spontaneously organized itself for the self-defence of the population in the face of war. Its members undergo initiation rites designed to give them alleged “supernatural protection” that they believe makes them immune, even to bullets.
In recent months, authorities have reported several attacks by groups that call themselves Naparama in various parts of the provinces of central and northern Mozambique.
On April 17, in the district of Malema, in the province of Nampula, at least five members of such a group were killed after attacking a Mozambican police position, the police force in that part of the country reported.
“The group arrived armed with spears, machetes, sledgehammers and other blunt instruments, as well as stones,” police spokesperson Rosa Chaúque reported.
On January 2, suspected Naparamas beheaded a neighbourhood secretary in the Morrumbala district, in Zambézia province, and placed the victim’s head in a public square, a police source told Lusa at the time.
On February 12, the President of Mozambique, Daniel Chapo, asked the new deputy commander-general of the PRM, Aquilasse Manda, to combat attacks attributed to these groups in Zambézia province, indicating that they were “trying to block” routes vital for the country’s development.
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