MAPUTO – Hundreds of families have fled Inhambane fearing for their lives. According to STV television station, they have fled from their homes on Friday, fearing attacks by gunmen from the former rebel movement Renamo.
STV reported that the families came from the outlying areas of Fanha-Fanha and Pembe, about 60 kilometres west of the district capital Homoine town. They headed for the town and for the city of Maxixe. One woman told STV that they had not slept at home because they were afraid.
But as far as STV could establish, there were no attacks, and not even robberies. The same woman said, “We saw soldiers who said they were from Renamo. Some were armed and others weren’t. They’re not harming or stealing from anyone.
When they go to homes, they buy goods with their money. But we’re afraid of a repetition of what happened during the war.”
Those who had seen the armed men spoke of small groups, going from house to house asking for food and water. Others had only heard of the incursion, and estimated the number in the band to be about 50.
Renamo had a particularly bloody reputation in Homoine. The worst massacre of the war took place in that town on
July 18, 1987, when a Renamo unit stormed into the town killing everybody they could find. The final death toll stood at 424.
In Sofala, media reported that Renamo had been stepping up attacks in parts of Gorongosa district, leading to a further exodus of peasant families, fleeing from their homes in the Gorongosa countryside.
