Maputo, 7 Jul (AIM) – The Mozambican Police (PRM) has caught 21 individuals in the northern province of Nampula trying to join the Islamist terrorists who have been plaguing the neighbouring province of Cabo Delgado since 2017.
The Police also presented to journalists other individuals selling clothes resembling military uniforms that could be used by terrorists.
According to the PRM spokesperson in Nampula, Zacarias Nacute, who was addressing reporters on Thursday, the individuals will be returned to their areas of origin because they are people who have been deceived with promises of employment.
They claimed that they were going to Cabo Delgado intending to find jobs, in order to ease their financial situation.
The individuals were caught shortly after the Nampula provincial police commander, António Bashir, revealed that 49 terrorist suspects had been found on islands off the Cabo Delgado coast.
They had mostly come from the Nampula district of Malema, and said they went to Cabo Delgado “to go fishing”.
In September 2022, the jihadists crossed from Cabo Delgado into Nampula, where they invaded Memba district, and attacked the Catholic mission of Chipene. They burnt down homes and murdered an 84 year old Italian nun, María De Coppi, who had lived in Mozambique since 1963.
Since July 2021, the Mozambican defense and security forces, with support from Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM), have been liberating districts previously occupied by the Jihadists, notably Mocímboa da Praia and the neighboring district of Palma.
(AIM)
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