Maputo — More than 30 confessed terrorists surrendered last Tuesday to the Mozambican authorities in Nangade district in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, according to a report in Thursday's issue of the independent newssheet "Carta de Mocambique".
The surrender occurred in Namuine village, and, according to the paper's sources, the terrorists were aged between 18 and 40. The group first approached a local farmer, whom they used as a middleman to deliver a letter in which they asked for clemency and declared their repentance for everything they had done while in the ranks of the jihadists.
This followed the appeal made last Friday by the General Commander of the Mozambican police force, Bernardino Rafael, for the terrorists to lay down their arms, promising that they would be treated humanely.
According to data published last Tuesday by the Observatory on Conflicts in Mozambique (Cabo Ligado), between the first terrorist attacks in October 2017 up until this month, there had been 1,242 acts of organized violence, which had claimed the lives of 3,990 people.
The Observatory also reported that on 13 May 12 terrorists were arrested in Tanzania after crossing the river Rovuma in canoes from the Mozambican district of Mueda. On 16 May, the Tanzanians arrested a further 17 terrorists near the Unity Bridge over the Rovuma.
