Renamo gunmen ambush police in Barue

Barue (Mozambique) (AIM) – Gunmen of the Mozambican revel movement Renamo injured two policemen in an ambush on Saturday in the Mutamba region of Barue district, in the central province of Manica.

RENAMO_INSURGENTS_nsnbc_fileThe police were patrolling a stretch of national highway N7 that runs from the Manica provincial capital, Chimoio to the city of Tete. This is one of the roads which Renamo publicly threatened to block a fortnight ago.

The Manica provincial police commander, Armando Mude, confirmed that two policemen were slightly injured in the ambush which occurred at about 12.00.

He told reporters that over a week ago the police became aware of Renamo movements in Mutamba, and in reaction stepped up patrols along N7.

Mude said that after this incident calm returned to Mutamba. He dismissed the Renamo ambush as mere banditry, and insisted that security along the road is guaranteed.

N7 is used by people travelling overland from Maputo or Beira to Malawi and Zambia via Chimoio and Tete.

Further east, the police on Saturday introduced a system of convoys under armed escort on a stretch of the main north-south highway (EN1) between Nhamapadza, in Maringue district, and Caia on the south bank of the Zambezi.

This is the second stretch of EN1 in Sofala province where vehicles can only move safely in armed convoys. The first convoy was introduced last Wednesday between the Save River, and the small town of Muxungue.

In both cases, there are four convoys a day, one in each direction in the morning and in the afternoon. The convoys only operate in the hours of daylight.

The Nhamapadza-Caia convoy was introduced after successive attacks by Renamo gunmen against civilian vehicles on this stretch of road on Thursday and Friday. The attacks led to the death of one person, burnt alive in his truck, and injuries, some of them serious, to six others.

The police believe the Renamo gangs responsible for these attacks have bases at Sanzala in Maringue, and at Doro, in Caia.

Post published in: Africa News

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *