Niassa, Mozambique, May 5, 2025 (Lusa) - At least two park rangers from the Niassa special nature reserve in northern Mozambique have been killed and two others are missing after attacks by suspected rebels on the protected area in that province neighbouring Cabo Delgado, an official source said on Monday.
The information provided in a press release by the Niassa Carnivores Project, one of the managers of the Mariri game hunting camp in one of the hunting grounds of the Niassa nature reserve, indicates that a park ranger was also injured following attacks by alleged terrorist groups on the reserve.
The Mariri game hunting camp, located in one of the reserve's hunting grounds, which covers an area of 42,000 square kilometres in eight districts, including Cabo Delgado, a region that has been facing an armed insurgency since 2017, was attacked on 29 April, following another attack in the same reserve on 24 April.
The Niassa Carnivore Project said in the same statement that its team and part of its logistical resources had already been withdrawn from the camp following the two attacks on the reserve.
"This episode represents a worrying expansion of the conflict that has been ravaging the north of the country, now reaching one of the most important conservation areas in Mozambique," the same document said.
The Mozambican Association of Safari Operators also expressed concern about the attacks by armed men in the reserve, calling for ‘calm’ to those who have hunting activities already scheduled.
The association of safari operators said that insecurity was only occurring in Niassa and Cabo Delgado, and that conditions for game hunting and tourism were good in the rest of the country.
The Mozambique police said on 30 April that it was investigating an attack by insurgent groups on a game hunting reserve in the Niassa Special Reserve, which allegedly took place the previous day.
"We, as the provincial command of the police in Niassa, are aware of this incident and we are on the ground to obtain more information about it," Nelson Carvalho, police spokesman in Niassa, told Lusa.
Mozambique's defence minister also acknowledged on 25 April the existence of terrorist groups in the Special Reserve of Niassa province, after the first attack on the reserve.
"We are aware (...). They are terrorists and we are after them," said Cristóvão Chume.
The US government has warned in recent days of movements by terrorist groups in the Niassa Special Reserve, advising its citizens to reconsider travel to the region.
The British government has also advised its citizens against travel to two districts in the province of Niassa, northern Mozambique, due to recent attacks by alleged insurgent groups in a protected area.
The gas-rich province of Cabo Delgado has been facing an armed rebellion since 2017, which has left thousands dead and caused a humanitarian crisis with more than a million people displaced.
In 2024 alone, at least 349 people died in attacks by Islamic extremist groups in the province, an increase of 36% over the previous year, according to data recently released by the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies, an academic institution of the US Department of Defense that analyses conflicts in Africa.
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