DEAD IN CABO DELGADO ATTACK

At least 12 people died on Thursday night when unidentified raiders, believed to be Islamic fundamentalists, attacked the village of Chicuaia Velha, in Nangade district, in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado. According to a report carried on Friday by the independent television station STV, the raiders also burnt down about 40 houses.

STV’s sources said the attackers were not carrying firearms, and used bush knives and other sharp instruments to kill their victims, although in some cases villagers were burnt alive inside their houses. The insurgents demanded that residents open their doors, and if the attackers refused, they set the houses on fire. Some of the inhabitants of Chicuaia Velha fled northwards, towards the border with Tanzania, where they hoped to find safety.

Contacted by reporters, the Nangade district administrator declined to give any information on the attack, on the grounds that he was in a meeting. The Cabo Delgado Provincial Police command has also not reacted to the attack.

The insurgency in northern Cabo Delgado began on 5 October 2017, with simultaneous attacks on three police units in Mocimboa da Praia district. Since then the attacks have spread into Nangade, Macomia and Palma districts, and now mostly target defenceless villages.

This is the third attack in Cabo Delgado in less than a month, with a total death toll of around 20.Local people call the insurgents “al Shabaab”, though they seem to have no direct connection with the Somali terrorist group of that name. The government refers to them simply as criminals and terrorists and does not mention any religious dimension to their activities. However, their demands for the imposition of sharia law, and outlawing the sale of alcohol make it clear that this is a brand of islamic extremism.