The Palma police operations chief is one of the five people thought to have been killed on Sunday afternoon in an ambush as they were crossing the village of Xitaxi, Muidumbe district, in Cabo Delgado province.

The suspected insurgents managed to stop the car and set it on fire. The car was carrying a group of five people, including the police chief, named Manuel Truca; his wife and nephew, and a Mozambican worker for the French NGO Solidarités International. A statement from Solidarités International said that the group was traveling to Palma.

Photos circulating in the media show two charred bodies, which cannot be identified independently, lying next to the carcass. The others are missing, presumed dead.

Later that afternoon, two people driving along the same stretch of the N380 highway near Xitaxi saw a car pulled over on the side of the road and were shot at by suspected insurgents. The driver and passenger managed to escape safely, but the car was pierced by bullets, visible in photos seen by Zitamar after the attack.

The N380 is the main road linking Macomia to the northern districts of Cabo Delgado. Insurgent activity along this road could pose a serious threat to ongoing efforts to return the displaced population to Mocímboa da Praia and Palma, further north. (Zitamar)