The Macomia district authorities have "decreed" the compulsory withdrawal of residents from the town of Mucojo until today, almost a month after the rebels stormed and occupied the strategic and main fishing port.

According to a VOA report, the withdrawal notice was passed on by some local leaders, but the reasons for evacuating the area were not given, explained Adrisse Abdalá, a local fisherman.

"I took part in a meeting with the new head of the locality in Masiva, and there I was told that the entire population must leave," said Adrisse Abdalá, noting that, given the warning, the "insurgents have also warned that new reinforcements are arriving for the safety of the population".

The insurgents and the population have been living peacefully together in Mucojo for the last month, and they have now appealed to the population not to comply with the order to leave, insisting that they will guarantee their safety. However, Abdalá fears that the population will be used as human shields in a possible attack by Mozambican and foreign forces to regain control of Mucojo.

Another resident quoted by VOA said that some people are sneaking off to Napala, where they take semi-collective transport or by sea to Pemba or other safe districts.

According to the same sources, some of the displaced people fleeing Mucojo by sea are being stopped by the Defense and Security Forces (FDS) on the islands of Quirambo and Matemo, in the district of Ibo.

"We were ordered to leave. The enemy said they're coming to reinforce because the government is taking away the population. So we're waiting in uncertainty," said Jumail Sualeh, another local resident.

The occupation of Mucojo on January 21 marks the first time the insurgency has taken control of a significant town since it was expelled from Mocímboa da Praia and Mbau in August 2021, writes Cabo Ligado, a publication that follows the insurgency in Cabo Delgado.