The armed group, which stormed and took control of the district headquarters of Macomia, Cabo Delgado province, on Friday (10), left the town on Saturday (11) with a trail of destruction and several abandoned bodies.

According to a VOA report, the insurgents left the town in the middle of the afternoon yesterday, Saturday (11), after destroying public and private infrastructure, looting shops and leaving the bodies of military personnel and civilians scattered in various neighborhoods of the town.

The forces of Rwanda, Botswana and South Africa yesterday reinforced the Mozambican contingent, which repositioned itself in the village.

"There's a lot of destruction and deaths. In Napuluvo I saw two military bodies, in Nanga I saw another body. I counted five dead, two yesterday (Friday) and three today (Saturday). There are still UIR bodies in the camp area," says one resident, quoted by VOA, adding that the population is timidly re-emerging in the village.

Another resident described the destruction in the village, noting that "the Mozambican Armed Forces are collecting the bodies". "The buildings of the social security, infrastructure and registration and notary services have already been destroyed (terrorists), they vandalized the Action Against Hunger organization, they took all the organization's vehicles," said the same source, noting that several food warehouses had been vandalized.

The attack took place in an area previously controlled by the Southern African Development Community's regional mission, SAMIM, which is gradually withdrawing until July.