Maputo — The owner of Expresso Cambios, Ahmed Jassat, died in South Africa on Monday from gunshot wounds he received when he was attacked in the Mozambican capital city, Maputo.

He was shot several times as he left a building in the centre of the capital, and the wounds were so severe that it was originally reported that he had died shortly after being admitted to hospital. In fact, doctors managed to stabilise his condition and he was transferred to a hospital in South Africa for further treatment.

Mozambique's national police spokesperson Pedro Cossa on Tuesday appealed for help in finding the assassins.

Cossa stated, "we are still working on the case and ask for help in gathering information. We ask for everyone's support in capturing these criminals".

Ahmed Jassat was shot as he left a building in one of the busiest streets in the heart of Maputo, 24th July Avenue, in the neighbourhood of Polana Cimento.

The murderers were waiting in a parked Toyota Corolla car and opened fire using a Kalashnikov AK-47 rifle.

The car did not have registration plates, and Cossa urged people to tell the police if they ever see any car without plates.

This is the second assassination of a citizen of Asian origin in Maputo in less than two months. In April the businessman Momade Ayoob was shot dead in broad daylight as he was leaving the Masjid-e-Jilani mosque in the Maputo neighbourhood of Alto-Mae.

Cossa also revealed that between 2 and 8 June there were 146 crimes reported to the police, which is down forty per cent on the same period last year. So far, 121 of these cases have been solved. A total of 1,138 people were arrested with the vast majority (1,016) being for border violations. In addition, 353 Mozambicans were repatriated from South Africa.

During the week there were 58 traffic accidents resulting in 30 deaths, 24 serious injuries and 38 minor injuries.

The police stopped 19,459 vehicles, fined 3,478 drivers and seized 137 vehicles and 73 driving licences. Eighty people were arrested for illegal driving.