Mozambique: Alleged rebels attack village in Meluco district

A group of alleged rebels carried out another attack on Monday in the village of Ravia, Meluco district, in the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, forcing dozens of people to flee, local sources told Lusa on Tuesday.

The attack took place at around 11pm (9pm in Lisbon), when the residents of Ravia, 33 kilometres from the town of Meluco, were surprised by gunfire in the streets.

“They came in shooting and we fled into the woods,” explained a resident of Ravia, who took refuge in Meluco.

There are still no reports of fatalities, but the rebel attack has forced dozens of families to leave the community, located more than 220 kilometres from the provincial capital of Cabo Delgado (Pemba).

Residents fear that the situation will jeopardise agricultural production this year, as it is not the first attack in the area, whose residents depend mostly on subsistence farming.

“There will be hunger in Meluco because this could contribute to poor agricultural production,” said another source, who asked not to be identified for security reasons.

Ravia is a town rich in precious stones and this is not the first attack in recent weeks.

On 26 January, a group of alleged terrorists carried out another attack on three precious stone mines in the town, killing at least five people, a member of the Local Force told Lusa.

The attack, in broad daylight, took place around 33 kilometres from the Meluco district headquarters, also leaving several injured, the member of the local force, a group of former guerrillas from the liberation struggle against the Portuguese colonial regime who support the government army in the fight against the insurgency in Cabo Delgado, told Lusa.

“They killed miners,” the source added at the time, adding that the alleged rebels looted the mines.

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 on the district headquarters of Macomia, with around a hundred insurgents looting the town, causing several deaths and heavy fighting with Mozambique’s defence and security forces and Rwandan soldiers, who are supporting Mozambique in the fight against the rebels.

Source » clubofmozambique.com