A group of armed men, still unidentified, attacked in the early hours of Monday (17/06/2013) a storeroom of the armed forces of Mozambique (FADM) in the administrative post of Savane, in the District of Dondo in central province of Sofala. The attackers, who wore civilian clothes, killed seven soldiers of the FADM and stole arms and ammunition in unspecified amounts.
According to the soldiers who survived the assault, and spoke on condition of anonymity with our journalist who was in Savane, more than a hundred men wearing as civil and armed with machetes and a few guns, broke into the storeroom, about eight kilometres from the headquarters of the administrative post, which is sealed by barbed wire and surrounded by forest.
The attackers began by firing into the air and shaking their machetes, trying to intimidate the military that were there, about a hundred of soldiers. Caught off guard, several sleeping after a weekend in which there was some "party", the FADM soldiers failed to react, though some have managed to pick up their weapons and fight back. In the exchange of fire some soldiers were shot and others fled in Stampede to the forest.
According to some military, armed men went to the location of the storeroom where the arms and ammunition are stored and took machine guns, AK-47, mortars, bazookas, grenades and ammunition in unspecified amounts.
Three soldiers were killed with machetes. Two others died as a result of the exchange of fire. Another soldier, who had disappeared and arrived at Beira Central Hospital severely injured died on Tuesday (18/06) afternoon.
Frightened by the clashes, residents of the administrative post of Savane abandoned their homes and sought refuge in the District of Dondo and up to the city of Beira.
On Monday the road traffic in the region of Savane was stopped and two trains, which should have left the city to Moatize, did not leave the station.
However, several dozen police officers were deployed to the region, including agents of the rapid intervention Forces, military and even SISE agents that, according to the Minister of the Interior, Alberto Mondlane, are on the trail of the robbers.
Who are the robbers?
The identity of the attackers remains unknown. The Government, through the Interior and Agriculture Ministers, said he has no doubt that the assault was perpetrated Renamo men.
However, the provincial police commander in Sofala, Joaquim Nido, stated that it has not been possible to identify the attackers. "In no time we were able to identify whether they are individuals who belong to a political formation as Renamo (...) It is one more case of disturbing the public order", said Joaquim Nido, this Tuesday (18), making a balance sheet of this assault on press conference.
President Guebuza condemns the attack and calls for dialogue
Yet on Tuesday (18) the President of the Republic, Armando Guebuza, forcefully condemned the violent actions that are being perpetrated by some people in the country and that result in bloodshed, calling for all Mozambicans to guided dialogue to overcome their differences.
"We don't want blood, because the Mozambicans do not feed on blood. We don't like blood, so we do not accept that there are people who liked the blood of their brethren. These people, when they see other brothers losing their blood live with this satisfaction, " said Guebuza quoted by the Mozambique information agency.
"If there are differences, we must continue the dialogue as a society, in which each present their point of view and, thus, we continue to build our country, without bloodshed," called the Mozambican statesman.
Translated by Francisco J. P. Chuquela from @Verdade Newspaper
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On trail of the robbors, too late!FADM are weaked minded.They should've been prepared long time ago. They know a police post was attacked just few months ago. Of course the Renamo former weapon suppliers will not give them guns again so, they will get them from roborry.