Missiles appear to have been fired across the River Rovuma from Tanzania into Mozambique on Thursday and Friday last week, injuring at least 12 people in Mozambican villages, sources in the border region have told Zitamar News.
A resident of Nangade, the main town in Nangade district in northern Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, said they saw five people being brought to the town’s health centre from Mandimba village on Thursday, having been injured by “rockets”, which they believed were fired by the Tanzanian military or police.
More rockets landed on Mandimba on Friday, injuring a further four, the source in Nangade said — adding that a number of people from Mandimba had now moved to Nangade town fearing further attacks.
Also on Friday, a source in the town of Palma, Mozambique saw people from Pundanhar brought to the Palma health centre after being hit by missiles they said were fired from Tanzania. More than three people were hospitalised due to the attack, the source said.
Antonio Matonse, a spokesman for Mozambique’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Zitamar the Ministry could not comment, recommending we contact the military or police instead.
Islamist insurgents based in Mozambique attacked the town of Kitaya in Tanzania on 14 October, and last week the Islamic State claimed insurgents from Mozambique had carried out three attacks in Tandahimba district, in the border region of Mtwara in Tanzania — a claim that was backed up by social media reports from Tanzania, saying attacks had happened.
The source in Palma also said the Tanzanian authorities are now blocking the export of basic goods to Mozambique, such as flour and rice, in an effort to starve the insurgency on the Mozambican side of the border.
This article was produced by Zitamar and Mediafax under the Cabo Ligado project, in collaboration with ACLED and with support from Crisis Group. The contents of the article are the sole responsibility of Zitamar News.
