Violence flares up in Mozambique – 20 dead after Renamo, police firefight
By Tom Bowker
(Bloomberg) — Mozambique's police force and militia loyal to opposition party Renamo both claim to have killed about 20 of the other side's forces in a Sept. 25 clash in central Mozambique from with Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama emerged unhurt.
The clash took place near the town of Amatongas in Manica province. The chief of police for Manica, Armando Mude, told Bloomberg by telephone on Sunday that 20 had died, including one civilian and 19 Renamo militia. Mude said the shooting was started by Renamo's militia, who opened fire on a minibus transporting passengers along the EN6 highway which links Zimbabwe with the Mozambican port of Beira.
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On Saturday Renamo spokesman Antonio Muchanga gave a press conference in the capital of Mozambique, Maputo, at which he said Renamo had killed around two dozen government forces, according to MediaFAX, a Mozambican publication. On Saturday night Erson Jacinto, Renamo's representative in Moatize, a coal- rich district of the north-western province of Tete, was assassinated at home by unidentified gunmen, according to Muchanga.
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Renamo is the largest opposition political party in Mozambique and retains its military wing which has not disarmed since Mozambique's civil war officially ended in 1992. The incident risks increasing tensions between Renamo and the government of Mozambique, where development of gas deposits could put the country on the road to becoming the third-largest supplier of gas chilled to liquid for shipment.