More than 15 soldiers die in an attack in northern Mozambique

Sep. 19 (EUROPA PRESS) –

At least 16 Mozambican soldiers have died in an attack carried out by unidentified armed persons against a security forces checkpoint in the district of Macomia, located in the province of Cabo Delgado (north).

The event took place late on Thursday in the town of Knoe, as confirmed on Monday by sources quoted by the news portal Carta de Mozambique. Often these attacks are known with delay due to the fact that they are in remote areas of the province.

Omar Saranga, one of the spokesmen for the Army, has indicated that the clashes resulted in the death of four prominent terrorists, including aliases ‘Dady’ and ‘Marisco’, whom he has accused of participating in various attacks in Cabo Delgado.

In recent months, the Mozambican authorities have highlighted an improvement in the security situation in the area due to joint operations with Rwandan special forces and troops deployed by the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Cabo Delgado has been the scene since October 2017 of attacks by Islamist militiamen known as Al Shabaab, unrelated to the homonymous group that operates in Somalia and maintains ties with Al Qaeda. Since mid-2019 they have been claimed mostly by the Islamic State in Central Africa (ISCA), which has intensified its actions since March 2020.