Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Mozambican authorities have detained a sergeant in the Special Operations Command of the Mozambican Armed Forces (FADM) as he was transporting weapons from the northern province of Cabo Delgado to the neighbouring province of Nampula, according to a report in Monday’s issue of the independent newssheet “Mediafax”.
The man was detained at a checkpoint on the Lurio River, which marks the boundary between the two provinces, at about 14.00 last Thursday. The man was in a bus of the company Nagi Investments, which had begun its journey in the Cabo Delgado district of Chiure, and was heading for Nampula city.
The police stopped the vehicle and checked the baggage. In the suspect’s bags they found an RPG-7 rocket launcher, and an AK-47 assault rifle, with five ammunition clips.
“These instruments of war were in the possession of a man named Manito Anlawe Ali”, said a police note on the arrest. ”He is a member of the Mozambican Armed Forces with the rank of second Sergeant in the Special Operations Command”.
Ali tries to justify his possession of the weapons with the claim that they had been used on a mission transporting foodstuffs from the Cabo Delgado provincial capital, Pemba, to the district of Macomia.
The police are checking out this story – but it seems most unlikely. There is no good reason for a Mozambican commando to hide weapons in the luggage compartment of a civilian bus.
Meanwhile there are further reports of terrorist attacks against villages in the Cabo Delgado district of Nangade.
On Saturday, raiders killed six people in an attack against the village of Litangina, while they were working in their fields. The previous day, terrorists attacked three villages, Chicamba, Migracao and Rovuma. Two people were reported murdered in these raids.
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