Terrorists attack two more Ancuabe villages

Islamist terrorists have returned to Ancuabe district in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, attacking at least two villages over the weekend, according to a report in Monday’s issue of the independent newssheet “Mediafax”.

The villages, Nanua and Nikuita, are located on the main road that leads to the town of Macomia in the centre of the province.

Nanua, about eight kilometres from the district capital, Ancuabe town, came under attack on Saturday night. The terrorists burnt down an unspecified number of houses in the village. Many of the villagers fled into the nearby bush, but one person was burnt alive in his own house.

At the same time, houses in Nikuita were set on fire, but there were no reports of any deaths.

It seems that Nanua has now been abandoned. The day after the attack, villagers went back to their homes in an attempt to salvage some of their belongings from the ashes. They then made their way to Ancuabe town, or to the provincial capital, Pemba.

These attacks came less than 48 hours after President Filipe Nyusi had visited Ancuabe town, in an attempt to show that security had returned to the district. Nyusi had urged the Mozambican defence and security forces, and their allies from Rwanda and from SADC, to step up their pursuit of the terrorist groups.