MAPUTO – Renamo gunmen attacked a bus on Sunday on the country’s main north-south highway, killing one person and injuring five others.
According to media in the country, the incident took place at about 09:20 against the first convoy of vehicles travelling from the small town of Muxungue, in the Sofala province, to the Save River.
Almost all of the Renamo attacks on the road have occurred along this 100-kilometre stretch of road. Since October when the rebel group annulled its peace accord with the ruling government, cars have been travelling between Muxungue and the Save in convoy, under military escort. The attack occurred at the bridge over the Ripembe River, where the group was obliged to reduce its speed due to the poor condition of the bridge.
According to the paper’s source, they heard shots coming from the bush. The first bus, owned by Nagy Investments, was hit, first on the windscreen, and then on its front right tyre. The driver lost control and the vehicle went off the road.
The escort returned fire, and the convoy broke up, as each driver headed towards the Save as fast as they could. “At the Save, almost two hours later we learnt that one of the people on board the Nagy Investments bus was shot in the head and died on the spot,” said the paper’s source. “Five other people were injured and the bus was immobilised.”
Mozambique’s civil war claimed over one-million lives, resulted in nearly two-million refugees and three-million internally displaced persons (in a population of a little more than 15 million). On October 4, 1992, after two years of failed attempts, both parties finally signed a general peace agreement in Rome under the auspices of the Catholic organisation Saint Egídio.
Journalists at two community radio stations in the central Mozambican city of Quelimane have complained of receiving death threats and other forms of intimidation.
The threats have been received as text messages on journalists’ mobile phones of those working at the Quelimane FM and Nova Paz radio stations.
The reporters also claimed there had been a suspicious presence of supposed members of the police in the immediate vicinity of the stations. This has led to them going into hiding,
avoiding both the radio newsroom and their homes.
The radio stations had apparently covered the voting live, including the irregularities that occurred at some of the polling stations.
