Mozambican army kills 12 insurgents in Cabo Delgado

Mozambique Defense and Security Forces (FDS) killed 12 insurgents in Cabo Delgado province, the country’s newly appointed Defense Minister said on Friday.  

Mr Cristóvão Chume, a former head of the Mozambican army, disclosed this during the closing ceremony of a military course in Maputo. He said that several weapons were recovered from the insurgents.

 “This morning I was informed that in Nangade, our forces met with the enemy, they killed 12 insurgents, wounded several others and recovered some weapons,” Mr Chume said.  

According to Mr Chume the joint forces, made up of the FDS and the contingents of the Southern African Development Community Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) and the Rwanda army are pursuing the insurgents. 

Last month, the Extraordinary Summit of the Organ Troika of the Heads of State and Government of SADC plus Mozambique held in South Africa approved the SAMIM extension. SAMIM was deployed in July and was supposed to last 90 days.

Mr Chume also acknowledged that there were sporadic attacks in villages across Cabo Delgado province. Mozambique has been fighting an insurgency in Cabo Delgado Province since 2017.

The attacks began in police stations in Mocimboa da Praia district, before spreading to other districts in the northern part of Cabo Delgado, especially in Macomia, Palma and Nangade.

Islamic State-linked militants launched attacks on the northeastern coastal town of Palma on March 24, ransacked buildings where they beheaded civilians.

More than 3,000 people have died in the violence and over 800,000 people have been displaced.

Earlier this month, the Rwanda ambassador to Mozambique Mr Claude Nikobizanzwe said more than 100 Islamic State-linked insurgents were killed and at least 350 civilians rescued in Cabo Delgado province by Rwandan forces deployed in the southern African country in July.