schema:articleBody
| - Dozens of people have been arrested following a jihadist raid earlier this week on military barracks and government offices in a northern town, the defence ministry said. Insurgents descended on Mocimboa da Praia, a town in the restive Cabo Delgado province on Monday, ransacking government buildings and hoisting their flag before retreating. A similar attack was launched on Wednesday in the nearby town of Quissanga. A shadowy jihadist group has wrecked havoc in northern Mozambique for more than two years, killing more than 900 people, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED). The unrest has forced hundreds of thousands of locals to flee and raised concern among energy giants operating in the gas-rich region. The identity of the assailants remains unclear. Locals in the predominantly Muslim province call the group Al-Shabaab, but it is not linked to the group of the same name operating in Somalia. According to state television TVM, Defence Minister Jaime Neto said late Friday that "members of the group have been arrested". He called on residents of the town "to report any strange movements to the authorities or people of dubious behaviour". Distributing pictures of the arrests, Neto office said 50 people had been rounded up. Mocimboa da Praia was also where the group first launched its offensive in October 2017. The Mozambican government has been accused by rights groups of failing to protect the people and restore order in the region -- an allegation Neto rejected. "We are not failing in Cabo Delgado. If we were, perhaps (the attackers) would by now have extended to another province," the minister said. "We are increasingly vigilant, we are very well equipped to repel any attempted invasion in Mocimboa da Praia and we will do that in all districts." str-sn/dl
|