Distrito de Mocímboa da Praia
Maputo, 26 Oct (AIM) – A group of three fishermen escaped from captivity at the hands of terrorists last Wednesday after the vessel they were on was hijacked in Mocímboa da Praia district, northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado.
According to local sources, quoted by the independent newsheet “Carta de Moçambique”, the men who escaped from the terrorists were part of a group of 20 fishermen abducted shortly before a military clash that resulted in the deaths of at least three terrorists, who were killed by the Mozambican Navy.
Sources added that the fishermen were held captive in the vicinity of the Messalo River.
The three individuals who escaped have since returned to their families in the Milamba neighborhood, on the outskirts of the town of Mocímboa da Praia.
According to the latest report carried out by the independent conflict registration project ACLED (Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project), the terrorists have been increasingly tightening security measures in Mocimboa da Praia, constraining commercial and humanitarian activity.
The organization points out that the evidence suggests that Islamic State Mozambique (ISM) return to the districts of Mocimboa da Praia, Muidumbe, and Macomia, is aimed at drawing on support from neighboring Tanzania.
According to ACLED, the ISM targets civilians for three main purposes: to foment civilian displacement, generate income, and engage in retribution.
Over the months of August and September, eleven attacks on civilian communities involved abductions, and ransoms were reported in five incidents, ranging from 1,500 to 70,000 meticais (from 23 to just over 1,000 US dollars at the current exchange rate).
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), over August and September, attacks in Cabo Delgado (Litandacua on the N380, and at Pangane on the coast) prompted over 700 people to flee.
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