The Montepuez Ruby Mining (MRM) company is under protection by a special force created by the Republic of Mozambique Police (PRM) to protect the areas of the gemstone deposits controlled by the company in that district of Cabo Delgado.

"The MRM has activated 'increased vigilance' and the government has dispatched special forces to fight the enemy and protect natural resources, in the district [of Montepuez]," writes a Mozambican weekly newspaper consulted by MZNews, noting that by the middle of this month, insurgents were marching into those areas.

According to the weekly, in their march, the insurgents beheaded two people (with a possible five fatalities) in the village of Muaja, the last one in the Ancuabe district, heading towards Montepuez.

"The insurgents ordered a woman to carry the heads to the center of the village, with a clear message: 'We are here!" reads the newspaper, which avers that people were forced by superior order to leave their home areas.

Gemfield, out of London (England), issued a statement making it known that the latest attacks by the insurgents occurred near their areas of operation, such as Ntoro, Nanhupo and Namanhumbir.

"Reports from the ground report insurgent movement in the district that hosts one of the world's most significant ruby deposits," he writes.

After the occurrence of the beheadings, the general commander of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM), Bernardino Rafael, proceeded to install an "Independent Company" of the Border Guard Police in that district. This is a company that, in addition to insurgency, will protect natural resources.

The "Independent Companies," remember, are an offshoot of the DSF for the protection of the territory and its resources.

At the end of last year, they were placed, in a pilot phase, in the districts of Palma, Nangade, Mocímboa, Muidunbe, and Quissanga (in Cabo Delgado), Marrupa and Mecula (Niassa), Memba and Moma (in Nampula), Pebane and Gurué (Zambézia), and Inhassoro (in Inhambane province).