Africa-Press – Mozambique. Mozambican police in Nampula have arrested a man suspected of being the operations leader of the group of alleged “Naparamas”, accused by the authorities of having attacked a police position just over a week ago.
“The individual [aged 38] is considered the operations chief and was the main mobilizer of the group for the attack […] against the Defence and Security Forces. […] He was the one who planned the operational strategies against our positions,” spokesperson for the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) in Nampula, Dércio Samuel, told media.
On April 16, Mozambican police fatally shot five people from this group who tried to attack a police position in the district of Malema, Nampula province, the force said at the time.
O fenómeno dos Naparamas pode ser uma nova ameaça à segurança no país. Ao que tudo indica, há uma estrutura de comando operacional dentro desses grupos.#naparamas #mocambique #stvnoticias #gruposoico
According to the authorities, the group was armed with spears, machetes, sledgehammers and other blunt instruments. During the response by government forces, in addition to the five deaths, six were arrested and an unknown number of people were injured.
Operations conducted by the authorities also led to the seizure of a book with information about the group, which, according to the police, is responsible for other raids and robberies in the communities.
“It is a register of all Naparama members and it is based on this book that we are working to neutralize all members of this group,” Samuel added.
Disproportionate use of force
Days after the Malema incident, the leader of the Catholic Church in Mozambique’s Nampula province criticised the “apparently disproportionate” use of force by police in the April 16 attack.
“The truth is that there were deaths and several injuries in connection with an apparently disproportionate armed reaction by the forces of law and order. […] Our priests serving in the parish of Santa Teresa do Menino Jesus de Mutuali [in Malema] say that, according to local police reports, there were five fatalities, while the locals, perhaps hyperbolically, speak of 21 deaths,” declared the archbishop of Nampula, Inácio Saure, during the celebration of Easter mass on Saturday.
The Naparamas, traditional warriors historically respected in the communities of the north and centre of the country, emerged during the civil war in the 1980s, combining traditional knowledge and mystical elements in the fight against enemies.
Historically, the Naparama classify themselves as a spontaneous self-defence force arising in the face of war. Its members undergo initiation rites, designed to give them alleged “supernatural protection” that they believe make them immune, even to bullets.
Attacks
In recent months, the authorities have reported several attacks by groups that call themselves Naparama in various parts of provinces in the centre and north of Mozambique. Some of these groups are thought to be impostors.
On Thursday, the Mozambican army announced the rescue of at least 280 women and children allegedly kidnapped by a group calling itself Naparama.
Defence Minister Cristóvão Chume promised yesterday that these groups would be “pursued to the last consequences.”
“We will continue to protect the communities, but on the other hand, we will pursue these groups to the last consequences. […] When I say that we will pursue them to the last consequences, I mean that we will pursue them until the risk or threat is eliminated,” Cristóvão Chume told the media.
On January 2, alleged Naparamas beheaded a neighbourhood secretary in Murrumbala district, Zambézia province, and placed the victim’s head in a public square, a police source told Lusa at the time.
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