Tanzania confirms terror attacks at border village of Kitaya

Inspector general of Police Simon Sirro

What you need to know:

  • Kitaya is on the banks of the River Ruvuma that separates Tanzania and Mozambique.

Dar es Salaam. The Inspector general of Police Simon Sirro has confirmed that some 300 militants from Mozambique attacked Kitaya village last week killing several people and destroying property.

Kitaya is on the banks of the River Ruvuma that separates Tanzania and Mozambique.

Speaking to Azam TV, the IGP said Police have since arrested both locals and foreigners in connection with the terrorist incident.

According to the police chief, the attackers have since retreated to Mozambique but vowed to bring the perpetrators of the attack to book.

This was the first such raid since Islamic State-linked fighters began an insurgency in Mozambique three years ago.

Sirro said some of the gunmen involved in last week’s attack were Tanzanians who authorities believe were behind a string of murders in the coastal town of Kibiti, Rufiji in 2017.

Tanzania is working with regional neighbors to “flush out the terrorists,” he said, without naming the group behind the raid.

Militants based in Mozambique’s gas-rich northern Cabo Delgado province have killed more than 2,110 people since the insurgency begun and displaced 310,000 others, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, which tracks violence.