Maputo, 24 Feb (AIM) – State employees fled from Quissanga district, in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, on Thursday, following an attack by Islamist terrorists against a position of the armed forces (FADM) in the Bilibiza administrative post.
Quissanga had been considered relatively safe and many displaced people had returned to the district. But now they are fleeing again. After the jihadists attacked the Bilibiza barracks, which is only a few metres from the village, teachers, health workers and other public employees all abandoned the area.
One source, a health worker who had not yet returned to Quissanga, told “Carta de Mocambique”, “On Friday, colleagues from Bilibiza arrived. When the shooting began, they fled on Thursday to Muhate. The following day, they returned to pick up their belongings, and then they made their way back to Muhate”.
Despite the presence of the defence and security forces, public employees in Quissanga town also fled, and took a boat down the coast to the provincial capital, Pemba.
“They (the terrorists) didn’t attack Quissanga town”, said the paper’s source. “They went to Bilibiza, where there was a clash and the staff had to flee”. These displaced people fled to the Pemba neighbourhood of Paquitequete.
The fugitives from Quissanga were not sure how many people had died or been injured in the attack, but a military source told “Carta de Mocambique” that three people had died. He did not specify whether they were terrorists or Mozambican soldiers.
(AIM)
Pf/ (253)
