via RENAMO gunmen shoot community leader – The Zimbabwean 9/02/2016
Maputo (AIM) – Armed men, believed to be members of the illicit militia of the former rebel movement Renamo, shot a community leader in Nhamatanda district, in the central Mozambican province of Sofala, on Friday night, according to a report in Monday’s issue of the Maputo daily “Noticias”.
Cipriano Sineque, community leader of the Nhamatanda locality of Bebedo, and his son, 22 year old Antonio Cipriano, were shot at their home. Sineque was seriously injured in the area of his collar-bone, while his son was shot in the right foot. Both are undergoing medical treatment in Beira Central Hospital.
From their hospital beds, they told reporters that the attack was carried out by six men armed with AK-47 assault rifles at about 22.00 on Friday night.
“They knocked on the door, with the intention of murdering my father”, said Cipriano. “Because we took a long time to come out, they started to burn the house down. That was when my father decided to come out to save the other members of the family, particularly the children. They opened fire and my father was the first to be hit. The attackers stole a duck and some money, and then left, thinking my father was dead”.
The head of the Bebedo locality, Bernabe Ndapitaia, who accompanied the wounded men to the Beira hospital, said that Renamo is targeting traditional chiefs and community leaders, in an attempt to weaken these authorities. This was the fourth such incident in the area.
“All the community leaders in that area no longer sleep at home, because they are afraid the Renamo men will come after them”, said Ndapitaia. “The Renamo men have drawn up a list of their victims”.
“Fear has spread through the area”, he added. “People are even afraid to go to their fields”.
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