Maputo, 25 Dec (AIM) – The Commander of the Mozambican army, Maj-Gen Tiago Nampele, claims that the terrorists in the northern province of Cabo Delgado have been defeated, since between 90 and 95 per cent of the territory that was once in the terrorists’ hands has been recaptured.
According to Nampele, who was speaking to reporters in Mocimboa da Praia district, remnants of the insurgents have now been driven into the Catupa forest, in the north-east of Macomia district, where they operate in small groups.
Nampele believes that the remnants of the terrorist bands currently number between 200 and 250 people.
“What we are planning is how to launch an offensive, and at the moment we have drawn up a plan with the Rwandan forces. We have been informed that the enemy is located in the forests of Catupa, where they are in small groups. So what we’re planning at the moment is, first of all, to try to stop them from getting food”, said Nampele.
According to him, the insurgents no longer operate from fixed bases. “In fact, there are no bases, but only a few groups of terrorists who move around in small groups. They spread out in groups of two”, he said,
He praised the support given by Mozambique’s partners. “We learnt a lot from Rwanda”, he said. “It was like gas. You can have a cooker; you can have food. But if you don’t have gas, you can’t cook anything,”
“So Rwanda became the gas for us, it gave us strength and together, shoulder to shoulder, we did what we did and we are continuing to do it together on the ground. So we learnt a lot,” said Nampele.
For his part, the spokesperson for the Rwandan Defense Forces, Brigadier General Ronald Rwivanga, said that the insurgency no longer has the capacity to capture territory in Mozambique, as it has been significantly weakened.
“These are nuisance attacks, not organized attacks. But every time they come, they get beaten bloody,” he said, adding that the Mozambicans and Rwandans have carried out successful operations together with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) forces in the forests of Catupa, where the remaining terrorists are hiding.
Since October 2017, Cabo Delgado has been the target of terrorist attacks that have killed more than 3,000 citizens and caused more than 900,000 people to flee to safer places, triggering a humanitarian crisis.
(AIM)
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