Islamist militants in Mozambique has killed over two dozen of soldiers in an ambush attack, military sources told AFP. This is a significant show of force against the military’s struggle to quell an insurgency in the northern part of the country.
Since 2017, a shadowy jihadist group has wreaked havoc in the northern Cabo Delgado region, targeting villages and towns in a bid to establish an Islamist caliphate.
The insurgents was said to have grew bolder this year and took control of large portion of territory which the army has so far failed to regain. According to a report, Militants were said to have ambushed a group of soldiers driving through the district of Muidumbe on Sunday and opened fire on the group, killing at least 25.
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Two military sources which confirmed the attack in recent days on condition of anonymity while speaking to AFP on Thursday said:
‘The terrorists let the military cars into an area of dense forest and then opened fire with heavy weapons… causing huge casualties in our forces.’
‘We had 25 men killed and dozens more injured,’ he said, adding that the attackers retreated back into the forest after the assault.
A second military official who confirmed the ambush on Friday said that attacks with that high a number of casualties have become more common.
‘It is strange how the terrorists have accurate information about the movement of the government forces.
‘Attacks like this… profoundly affect the morale of the troops,’ he said.
Report says that communication has become difficult in Cabo Delgado as militants have destroyed several telephone lines. Mozambique’s government is also wary of bad publicity and sources are reluctant to speak to the media.
The army is still fighting to retake the key port town of Mocimboa da Praia, which the insurgents seized in August.
Not much is known about the militants as their details are still sketchy. The militants which call themselves Al-Shabab have no known link to the known group with that name operating in Somalia. Last year, they pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.
At it stands 10 of Cabo Delgado’s 17 districts have been affected by the violence, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED) group, despite a beefed-up military presence in the area. ACLED has also documented more than 2,300 deaths, at least half of them civilians.
Mozambique’s government estimates that more than 500,000 people have been displaced by the unrest.
The United States this week vowed to help the southeast African country tackle the insurgency and called for more international cooperation to end the violence.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK