Macomia village attacked and abandoned

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Macomia village attacked and abandoned
Macomia village attacked and abandoned

Africa-Press – Mozambique. Islamist terrorists on Thursday night attacked the village of Nguida, in Macomia district, in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, reports Monday’s issue of the independent newssheet “Mediafax”.

Nguida, which is about 20 kilometres from the district capital, Macomia town, had suffered several earlier attacks, in which many of the residents had fled. Last week’s raid persuaded those who had stayed to abandon the village and head for the district capital.

The Mozambican military position at Nguida was also unable to resist what was regarded, according to “Mediafax”, as “a strong terrorist attack”. Some of the soldiers at this position are now listed as “missing”.

Some of the residents of a second Macomia village, Liukwe, although it has not yet come under jihadist attack, also sought refuge in Macomia town.

In Nangade district, terrorists ambushed last Monday a patrol of Mozambican and Tanzanian troops. The patrol called for air support, and a helicopter responded, killing three of the terrorists. Five Tanzanian soldiers were injured.

Meanwhile, on the final day of a working visit to Portugal, Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi appealed for European Union support, not only for the Mozambican defence and security forces, but also for their allies from Rwanda.

He told reporters that the question of security had been discussed in his talks both with the Portuguese authorities and during last week’s visit to Finland. The EU is currently playing a major role in training Mozambican special forces, endowing them with the skills and techniques required to fight terrorism.

The European governments, Nyusi said, remain committed to solidarity with Mozambique. “They are working with us/”, he said, “so that very quickly life returns fully to normality”.

He also stressed the need for “financial support for our friends”, by which Nyusi was clearly referring to Rwanda. Rwanda is expected to receive 20 million dollars from the EU, precisely to support its anti-terrorist operations in Cabo Delgado.

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