ATTACK POLICE IN TETE

Armed men, believed to be members of the illegal militia of the former rebel movement Renamo, on Saturday mounted five ambushes against a unit of the Mozambican police in Moatize district, in the western province of Tete.The gunmen were able to attack repeatedly because along the road they placed 12 barricades made of tree trunks, at intervals of one and a half kilometers. The ambushes occurred at about 09.00 when the police unit was travelling to the area of Monjo, to relieve the policemen stationed there.The spokesperson for the Tete provincial police command, Deolinda Matsinhe, cited by Radio Mozambique on Sunday, said the policemen came under attack in the locality of Ndande when they left their vehicles in order to remove the obstacles. In the exchanges of fire no members of the police unit were killed or injured. Matsinhe said she did not know whether the Renamo gunmen had suffered any casualties.She said one of the attacks occurred in an inhabited area and, with many people in the vicinity, “it was difficult for our force to react, since they ran the risk of hitting members of the public”. She said the police managed to relieve the unit in Monjo, The unit that came under fire has remained in the area “to guarantee public order, security and tranquility”.This is the latest in a spate of Renamo attacks against police units in Moatize and the neighbouring district of Tsangano. Such attacks are flagrant violations of the agreement on a cessation of military hostilities signed on 5 September last year by the then President, Armando Guebuza, and Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama.