Mozambique’s president says rebels in Cabo Delgado ‘weakened’

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) - Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi said insurgents that have been terrorizing the northern Cabo Delgado province are “weakened and on the run,” media reports said Friday, playing down recent attacks which have displaced thousands.

Nyusi made the remarks while visiting military positions in the Ancuabe district, 45 kilometers (27 miles) from the port city of Pemba, the province's capital. It is a district that has suffered attacks in recent weeks.

“The rebels are in disarray because we are hitting them hard,” said Nyusi, according to the Club of Mozambique website.

They have been “weakened,” hence they are attacking soft targets in the southern part of the province in “small groups to try to reassert their existence,” he said. “But we will pursue these small groups.”

The rebels are fleeing to the south of Cabo Delgado in search of food because of the military offensive jointly carried out by the armed forces and the Rwandan and Southern African Development Community (SADC) troops, he added.

Media reports said at least eight people, including community leaders, were killed since June 5 in Ancuabe with bodies found beheaded.

In one attack, security guards at a graphite mine were shot dead, according.

More than 17,000 people have fled their homes due to the latest attacks in the restive northern province in the last week, the UN said Thursday.

The displaced, mainly women and children, reportedly fled Ancuabe and the district of Chiure following attacks in early June.

The southern African nation has been battling an armed insurgency in Cabo Delgado province since 2017 with analysts attributing it to wider socio-economic and political disparity.

Since then, roughly 784,000 people have been internally displaced because of the conflict, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Around 4,000 have been killed, according to the ACLED conflict registration project.