Cabo Ligado 42

Insurgents struck throughout Nangade district last week, nearly isolating Nangade town in a series of attacks. On 1 March, insurgents began setting roadblocks on the R763 south of Nangade town, cutting off the main route between Nangade and Mueda. The same day, insurgents killed two farmers working near the village of Eduardo Mondlane, just east of Litingina. On 2 March, more insurgent roadblocks sprang up near Muiha village, in the northwest of Nangade district, near where the borders separating Nangade, Mueda, and Tanzania meet. Insurgents were also seen the same day in the countryside just west of Muiha, where they chased farmers from their fields. No casualties were reported. The incursions west of Muiha are the farthest west incidents in Cabo Delgado involving insurgent fighters ACLED has yet recorded. Far to the east, insurgents once again attacked the border post of Namoto, Palma district on the night of 2 March. Despite a military unit being deployed to protect the area after it was attacked on 27 February, insurgents were able to loot the area and burn the border post to the ground. Helicopters evacuated border police shortly after the attack began, and no casualties have been reported. The next day, insurgents used their roadblock system to ambush a military vehicle traveling on the R763 from Nangade town to Mueda. The ambush took place near Litingina, about 10 kilometers south of Nangade town. Insurgents placed logs in the road and opened fire on the vehicle as it approached. The soldiers in the vehicle returned fire with a rocket propelled grenade and barreled through the roadblock, but not before three soldiers had been killed. The deceased include a lieutenant colonel and two enlisted men. The same day, insurgents killed two civilians from the same family in the village of N’gangolo, which sits on the R763 south of Litingina. That night, insurgents raided the village of Samora Machel, east of Litingina. No details of that attack have been reported. Insurgents drew even closer to Nangade town on 4 March when they attacked the village of 3 de Fevereiro, 9 kilometers east of the district capital. Most civilians had fled to Nangade town before the attack, but they could see the smoke from 3 de Fevereiro as insurgents burned homes in the village. Insurgents also returned to Samora Machel that night, but, again, no details of the attack emerged. A report by Pinnacle News, confirmed by a Cabo Ligado source, notes that insurgents sent messages to Palma civilians, threatening to attack the town on 5 March. As with past threats of specific attack dates, no actual attack on Palma came on 5 March, although more security forces were deployed to the town as a precaution. On 6 March, government forces attacked an insurgent encampment at Nkonga, in eastern Nangade district near the border with Mocimboa da Praia. The village had been deserted following insurgent attacks in the area, and insurgents had commandeered it as a place to hold hostages and stockpile looted goods. Supported by five helicopters, government troops assaulted the village and killed and captured multiple insurgents. Goods looted from Nangade district were recovered, and hostages taken by insurgents during their Nangade raids were freed