The population of the community of Nanduli in Cabo Delgado, province is on the run because of an insurgent, local sources told Lusa on Tuesday.
The rebel attack on the community of Nanduli, eight kilometres from the EN380 national road and around 25 kilometres from the district headquarters of Ancuabe, took place at around 12:00 (11:00 in Lisbon) when the rebels attacked a position of the Mozambican Defence and Security Forces.
“We’ve all fled. The situation isn’t good, even our soldiers have fled. The village is under attack by the terrorists at the moment,” said a local witness, fleeing from the village of Ngeue.
Some people told Lusa that the incursion into the Nanduli community took many people by surprise, at a time when many were husking and threshing maize, beans and sesame.
“They came in firing and the first target was the military position, and they fled and so did we, it’s sad because we left everything behind and this could lead to hunger,” said another source, also fleeing from Ngeue.
There are still no reports of deaths among the residents, nor on the part of the military and the terrorists, but the fire was intense, they add.
“I can’t lie, I still don’t know what’s happening, if there are deaths or not, because we fled as soon as they started shooting,” he added.
This is the second time in less than three days that terrorists have attacked the Ancuabe district. The last attack took place on 11 May in the community of Missufine, along the EN1 national road, almost 70 kilometres from the town of Pemba. It began at around 6 p.m. (5 p.m. in Lisbon) and lasted almost four hours, with the insurgents firing indiscriminately while setting fire to people’s homes, most of which were poorly built.
“My house was burnt down, as was my neighbour’s. The terrorists came in full force and weren’t even intimidated by the fact that the village is on the busiest stretch of the EN1 national road,” said one local at the time.
The attack on Missufine caused the population of the village and neighbouring communities to flee to the town of Sunate (Silva Macua), the district seat of Ancuabe, Chiúre district and the city of Pemba.
“My family is in Silva Macua. I preferred to stay alone to check out the situation,” said Siaca, 46, from the community of Intutupue, less than 10 kilometres from Missufine village, where the attack took place.
According to local sources, at least three people suffered minor injuries in the hideouts as a result of stray bullets fired by the rebels during the raid. And dozens of houses were reduced to ashes.
As with today’s attack on Nanduli, there are still no reports of fatalities. Saturday’s attack on Missufine affected traffic along the EN1 road for most of the night, cutting off the connection between the city of Pemba and other parts of the province.
This is the second attack on the Nanduli community and the third in the Ancuabe district, the first of which took place in June 2022.
Lusa
