- Lusa News reports that rebel groups in Cabo Delgado carried out two simultaneous attacks in the Palma district in early hours of yesterday morning.
- The raids were aimed at the headquarters of Olumbi Administrative Post and the town of Monjane.
- Monjane is less than 10km from Afungi, where construction work on Total’s mega gas project is under way.
During the incursion, there were major clashes between the rebels and the Defence and Security Forces. The region is now under lockdown while Defence and Security Forces remain prominent in the region.
“We do not know if there were deaths or injuries in either attack, but what is clear is that now it is very difficult to enter or leave Afungi,” a source in Palma told Lusa News.
An employee of a company subcontracted by Total that is based in Afungi, told Lusa News that the workers were advised not to leave the enclosure where they live.
“We have been instructed not to leave the enclosure and indeed there have been almost no cars entering Afungi since this morning,” said the official, who added that the activities of the protector that are taking place on the perimeter near Monjane are temporarily paralysed.
This is the second attack close to the gas megaprojects this month, after a first one that took place on 7 December in the village of Mute, less than 25 kilometres from the area where the natural gas processing industrial zone in Area 1 of the Rovuma basin is being built. Read more
The project, led by Total, is the largest private investment in Africa, in the order of USD25 billion. Read more
The United States government, through Exim Bank, has invested USD 4.7 billion committed to the project. Read more
Today’s latest attacks come one day after Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi asked the Defence and Security Forces for “maximum readiness” in the face of the “silence of the enemy”, after “successful” operations by government forces in Macomia, another district of Cabo Delgado that has been frequently affected by rebel incursions.
The armed violence in Cabo Delgado began three years ago and is causing a humanitarian crisis with more than 2,000 deaths and 560,000 displaced people, without housing or food, mainly concentrated in the provincial capital, Pemba.
Some of the incursions have been claimed by the ‘jihadist’ Islamic state group since 2019. Read more
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
Source: Lusa News
