An armed group attacked the headquarters of the village of Nacuale, Ancuabe district, in Cabo Delgado province, on Sunday 17 November, the local population reported.
According to community sources, quoted by Lusa, the attack began at around 3pm when the rebels appeared firing indiscriminately and burning people’s homes, more than 20 kilometres from the district headquarters.
‘My uncle lost his house, they came in shooting and burning,’ said a source from the Ancuabe headquarters, describing the panic experienced by the population during the attack.
In the town of Nacuale, the rebels unsuccessfully tried to loot medicines from the local health centre, while exchanging fire with a group from the Local Force, after long hours of pursuit. ‘They wanted medicines, but the local force answered them and they got nothing,’ described the source.
There are reports of injuries between the parties as a result of the firefight, which began in the woods and continued to the Nacuale headquarters. ‘I have information that there were wounded on both sides, with the terrorists even likely to have casualties,’ explained another source from Ancuabe.
Since October 2017, the gas-rich province of Cabo Delgado has been facing an armed rebellion with attacks claimed by movements associated with the extremist group Islamic State.
The last major attack took place on 10 and 11 May, in the district headquarters of Macomia, with around a hundred insurgents looting the town, causing several deaths and heavy fighting with the Mozambican Defence and Security Forces and Rwandan soldiers, who are supporting the country in the fight against the rebels.
