Mozambique’s defence minister has said that there is “no spillover” of the armed conflict in northern Mozambique, in the face of some suspicious attacks recorded in Nampula, neighbouring Cabo Delgado province.
“There is no spillover. They are small groups” that attack in neighbouring provinces and, “therefore, it is possible for them to move around very easily, attack at one point and disappear into the bush,” the defence minister said, quoted by Mozambican television station Televisão de Moçambique.
The minister also said that all rebels will be “captured sooner or later”.
“There is no bandit who will last forever, whatever the cost,” he said.
In September, unknown groups attacked villages in two districts on the border line between Nampula and Cabo Delgado.
The rebel incursions caused a total of 47,000 displaced people, but most of them have already returned to their areas of origin with the improvement of security conditions, the delegate of the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (INGD) in Nampula, Alberto Armando told Lusa today.
The minister recalled some attacks recorded in December 2021 in Niassa, a province that also borders Cabo Delgado, which are suspected to have been caused by rebel groups, noting that the Defence and Security Forces “were there” and had restored security.
Cabo Delgado has faced an armed insurgency since 2017 with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.
The insurgency has led to a military response since a year ago by forces from Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), liberating districts near gas projects but leading to a new wave of attacks in other areas.
There are about 800,000 internally displaced people due to the conflict, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and about 4,000 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project.