A soldier with the Southern African Development Community Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) was killed and six others were injured when SAMIM forces raided insurgents in the gas-rich Cabo Delgado Province.
The causalities occurred during a joint operation conducted by SAMIM, Mozambique’s Special Police, and the country’s Defence Armed Forces (FADM) on 9 June.
“SAMIM forces, together with friendly forces, suffered seven casualties – one fatality and six injuries. The injured members are recuperating and are on their way to recovery,” SAMIM said in a statement.
Without giving figures, the mission said its forces had killed insurgents and recovered guns during the raid in an area called Fifth Congresso, or Quinto Congresso, in the Namambo forest of Macomia.
During the joint operation, terrorists were killed, and others suffered severe injuries. SAMIM, together with friendly forces, recovered AK-47 assault rifles, ammunition, and magazines.
On Friday, insurgents with links to the Islamic State (IS) group claimed that they had ambushed a patrol of government security forces in the area, killing two soldiers.
It is not clear if it’s the same clash on which SAMIM reported.
IS also claimed to have burnt down 20 homes and killed two civilians in another part of the province. On Saturday, a day after the raid by joint forces in Macomia, in the town of Chiure, the local media reported that insurgents were not backing down after four people were killed and a church burnt.
Between 2 and 9 June, attacks by insurgents triggered the displacement of almost 10 000 people, creating a humanitarian crisis within a crisis, the organisation ReliefWeb said in a statement.
ReliefWeb said:
Food, shelter, communal emergency latrines, dignity kits, and kitchen sets are the main needs identified in all districts across Cabo Delgado.
Piers Pigou, the Crisis Group’s senior consultant for southern Africa, said since launching its operation last year, SAMIM had not been able to contain the insurgency in Macomia, which is a key area of operation for IS.