Africa-Press – Mozambique. Group of islamist terrorists are continuing to move along the key N380 road between Macomia and Mocimboa da Praia in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado.
According to the Cabo Delgado provincial governor, Valige Tuabo, cited by the independent daily “O Pais”, the jihadists have even set up check points along the road, where they extort money from passing motorists.
Three months after an apparent halt to terrorist attacks, the islamists have once again stepped up their movements along the road.
Although a system of military escorts has not been reinstated, there are still what Tuabo described as “pockets” of terrorist activity. He believed this “is not stable activity. It’s movement they undertake when they are being chased”.
Chased or not, these groups had time to set up road blocks to extort money from motorists, and to steal goods from local residents. “This is an act of terror”, said Tuabo. He claimed that, in general, traffic could flow along the road, but “when the jihadist groups are suffering from hunger, they order vehicles to stop, they demand money, and they take all the products they find”.
Tuabo admitted that the jihadist groups are also moving through nearby villages “spreading fear and terror”.
“We can’t say that the attacks (between Macomia and Mocimboa da Praia) have stopped”, said the governor. “Work on security is still under way. This means that the terrorists still exist in some areas”. Only when this situation had been brought under control “will we say that the province is stable”.
The fact that military escorts have not been reinstated along the road was a sign of improved security, claimed Tuabo.
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