MOZAMBIQUE: More dead bodies found in Mocuba, Mozambique

Residents of the administrative post of Murrothone, Mocuba district, in Zambezia province, claims to have found 28 dead bodies, apparently killed in a full-scale battle between government defence and security forces and Renamo, along with some civilians who also died, today’s edition of weekly Mozambican newspaper Zambeze reports.

Reuters (File photo)

A Mocuba resident apparently asked the newspaper to appeal to authorities to remove the bodies scattered on the slopes of Mt Potho, which lies within the perimeter of Renamo’s Murrothone base, on the grounds that the bodies’ advanced state of decomposition could spread disease.

“We appeal to government authorities to remove the bodies urgently and deliver them to their relatives for decent burial ceremonies,” was the public’s appeal.

The bodies are said to be those of combatants killed in three days of clashes between Renamo and government forces but also of “some some civilians who were innocently killed in the region”, reads the Zambeze report.

Zambeze sources said that soldiers had only been able to remove the bodies lying at the side of tracks in the area, but considered it too dangerous to penetrate farther into the woods to remove the other bodies.

Attempted phone calls to ascertain the Zambezia authorities’ version of events were unsuccessful.

Zambeze/Club of Mozambique