The president of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, said on Thursday that the terrorists in Cabo Delgado “are in constant flight, agony and suffocation” under the pressure of the military operations of recent weeks and called for their voluntary surrender without reprisals.
“The Mozambican people have never been a people of hate. You can come back, you will be with us, and we will build our country.
Realise that you won’t live forever in the forests, away from your families. Come back and join other Mozambicans to develop the country,” said the head of state.
“Bring your weapons, give yourselves up,” he insisted during his official speech on Victory Day of the Lusaka Accords, the centrepiece of which is taking place today in the town of Maxixe, Inhambane province, in which he acknowledged that “there have been so many” who have given themselves up in recent months.
“The stubborn terrorists, in small groups, are in constant flight, agony and suffocation,” Filipe Nyusi said.
“I am capitalising on this ceremony to invite those Mozambicans who are still in the bush, on the side of the terrorists, to hand themselves in to the authorities with the guarantee that they will be welcomed with open arms, as has been the case with those who have given up crime and are now safe with their families and friends,” he reiterated.
Since October 2017, “some districts of Cabo Delgado province have been victims of international terrorism,” which “has claimed the lives of more than 2,000 Mozambicans, destroyed the social fabric of the region as well as economic and social infrastructure, both public and private,” he said.
The president praised the Defence and Security Forces, who promptly took up a position in defence of the “population and their property” but acknowledged that “as this is a new type of threat,” they initially “had minor difficulties”.
Even so, he said, “over time, and progressively”, the military “have been raising the level of operations”, relying on the “affectionate” Local Force in the rear – made up of former fighters in the national liberation struggle, with experience in the field – who “have been making a difference on the battlefield and have been able to pass on knowledge”.
“Applying heavy blows to the terrorists,” said Filipe Nyusi, pointing in particular to the results of the fighting on 8 and 22 August, in which Mozambican Bonomade Machude, known as Ibn (or Ibin) Omar in the bush, or also as Abu Suraka, considered the leader of the “terrorist operations” in Mozambique, was put “out of action” – as announced on 25 August – along with “two other prominent operatives”.
“Some don’t believe it, but they have to. There’s no way,” Nyusi insisted about Ibn Omar’s death.
However, he warned: “We are not saying that terrorism is over, nor will we have the audacity to say so.”
The security situation “has improved considerably,” and a large part of the displaced population “has returned to their areas of origin”, but these casualties “do not mean that terrorism is over. We are aware that winning a battle is not synonymous with winning the war,” he emphasised.
“We call on all Mozambicans to be vigilant in relation to any strange movement in the communities, to alert the authorities all over the country,” the head of state added.
Today, Mozambique marks the day of the signing of the peace agreements in the country, signed with the Portuguese government on 7 September 1974 in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, which preceded Mozambican independence.
The president revealed that 1,190 veterans of the national liberation struggle were decorated today throughout the country, bringing the total to 17,651 former combatants honoured with this title.
“More than just a chest ornament, it is a recognition of all Mozambicans,” he said, calling on younger people to “preserve what was achieved with great sacrifice by their elders”.
“Today, 49 years later, the sun continues to shine on our territory, one and indivisible. Mozambique has the same territorial dimension, reconquered in the light of the Lusaka agreements, and this feat is the work of the so-called 25 September generation and those who inherited the defence of our sovereignty from them,” he concluded.
Lusa
