Attack in Mozambique leaves two police officers dead

By William Mapote

MAPUTO, Mozambique

Two police officers were killed Thursday when at least 30 armed men attacked police positions in northern Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, authorities said.

Inacio Dina, spokesman for the General Command, said the militants attacked three police positions and stole weapons in Mocímboa da Praia district, 80 kilometers (49 miles) from the future site of two liquefied natural gas terminals to be built by Italy’s ENI and U.S. oil and gas firm Anadarko.

“There were more than 30 men holding AK47s. The targets were police and military positions” said Dina.

Analysts in Mozambique’s capital, Maputo, believe the militants are likely a cell of the Al-Shabaab terrorist group, but this hasn’t been confirmed by police.

“We are not sure who those people are. We can confirm that they are some kind of radical militants, but we don’t have enough evidence yet to say whether they belong to Al-Shabaab,” Dina said.

Police say two members of the group were detained and three others killed during the attack.

It marked the second time in a year that radical militants attacked military positions in search of weapons.