Terrorist Raids Force Mozambique to Close Mosques

Mozambique mosques closed

Terrorist Raids Force Mozambique to Close Mosques

Following the deadly attack on three police stations in Mocimboa de Praia, a town close to the Tanzanian border lying in the heart of a gas-rich region last month, the Mozambique government has closed three mosques in the northern city of Pemba.

But the closure of facilities suspected to have links with the October 5^th and 6^th incident may extend the three mosques.

Suspected Islamists attacked a string of police stations in a small town in northern Mozambique killing two policemen but 14 of the gunmen were slain, police said on Saturday.

Police have so far arrested 10 other gunmen, recovered four firearms and more than 100 rounds of ammunition. The motive of the attacks is still unknown but in the past police arrested some religious leaders of Islamic extremist sects.

A local journalist suggested on social media that the attackers belonged to the virtually unknown group, Swalissuna, which has been in existence for about five years.

“They have specific grievances with the police and aimed the attack at them,” tweeted journalist and private media owner Erik Charas said.

Mozambican authorities have blamed the attacks on “extremist Islamist sects” active in the region and bent on “spreading disorder”, a local report has said.

“Local police said 14 attackers were killed, along with two policemen and a civilian. Three mosques in Pemba, the capital of Cabo Delgado province, have been shut and the government may extend the measure to other towns”,  provincial official Alvaro Goncalves was quoted as saying by the government-run newspaper Noticias.

The closures “only affect mosques that had some contact with the group of people involved in the events of Mocimboa da Praia”, Goncalves said.

The closures “only affect mosques that had some contact with the group of people involved in the events of Mocimboa da Praia”, Goncalves said

The president of the Islamic Council of Mozambique, Sheikh Saide Abibo, protested at the government’s intervention. “The closure of mosques creates a bad feeling within the Muslim community,” Abibo said in a telephone interview with AFP late Monday.

“We reject this decision.” Following the attacks, President Filipe Nyusi removed the heads of intelligence service and the army and replaced the governor of Cabo Delgado province.