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Protesters waving ISIS flags in Sringaar.
- Sources have told AFP that the army is seeking to retake a port that was seized by jihadists in Mozambique.
- Islamist groups have occupied Mocimboa da Paria, a strategic port.
- Sources say steps are being taken to retake the port.
Troops are preparing an operation to recapture a strategic port in northern Mozambique that was seized by jihadists three weeks ago, sources say.
Islamist militants occupied Mocimboa da Praia, the center of a plan to develop the region’s offshore gas wealth, on August 12, after days of attacks.
A senior military source who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media told AFP on Wednesday that the state still “has no control” over the city.
Another source, who was also speaking in Palma, 60 kilometers north of the port, said Thursday that the “priority of the military is to recover” Mocimboa da Praia.
“Steps are already being taken to retake the city,” a source in the capital Maputo said on Wednesday.
Moving
Locals reported seeing buses full of soldiers moving north towards Mocimboa da Praia on the road to Pemba, the capital of the Cabo Delgado province.
Neighborhood leaders have also been advising villagers to leave their homes and head to Palma to minimize the loss of civilians in the event of clashes.
The loss of Mocimboa da Praia marks the latest step in an increasingly intense insurgency in the north of the country since 2017 that has killed more than 1,500 people and displaced 250,000.
It was the second time this year that the port, the logistics springboard of the Afungi liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, has been occupied, although the previous event lasted only a day or two.
Authorities maintain that jihadists live among the local population and this requires the military to respond carefully.
“Terrorists are mixing with the population and we cannot endanger the public,” Interior Minister Amade Miquidade said Monday during a visit to Pemba by President Filipe Nyusi.
“For this reason, the actions of the defense and security forces must be finely calibrated so that they cause the least possible damage to the communities.”
