Three starving insurgents surrendered to the military in N’tchinga village, Muidumbe district on Sunday.
Zitamar’s source in Muidumbe said the men were emaciated and frail.
At the time of their arrest, the insurgents said they were starving, having eaten nothing but mangoes in the bush, and so had decided to turn themselves over.
Reportedly, their physical appearance matched a real famine scenario. The three armed men were first spotted at the edge of the woods by farmers, who were working in their fields.
Some civilians ran to inform the defence forces of their presence.
The men continued along the road towards N’tchinga village, and as they walked they waved white fabric in the air with their arms raised in a sign of surrender.
Meeting the military, they dropped their guns on the ground and stripped to show they were not carrying any other weapons.
They begged not to be killed, explaining they had abandoned the terrorists due to hunger.
The soldiers seized their weapons and beat them before taking them to the barracks in neighbouring Mueda district.
A similar incident took place on Saturday where two insurgents surrendered in Quinto Congresso village, not far from the administrative post of Chai in Macomia district.
Zitamar’s source said a woman, who was picking cashew nuts, first saw the two men carrying firearms and machetes near the Ndamangue bridge, 6km from Chai.
They assured the woman they meant no harm, and asked her where the nearest road going south was.
Once they left, the woman called her husband in Quinto Congresso village, who then told local pro-government militia about the insurgents.
Children spotted them arriving in the village.
Surrounded by militiamen, they claimed they had no intention to keep fighting, pointing out that they had not killed any of the civilians they had met on their way.
The men reportedly then surrendered, dropping their weapons.
The militia handcuffed them and took them to the district headquarters in Macomia town.
This article was produced by Zitamar and Mediafax under the Cabo Ligado project, in collaboration with ACLED. The contents of the article are the sole responsibility of Zitamar News.
