Former presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane's press office announced yesterday that he had disappeared after an alleged assassination attempt by the Rapid Intervention Unit (UIR) in the Expresso area, which separates the neighborhoods of Hulene, Laulane and Aeroporto.

"With the start of the shooting, the caravan broke up, and Venancio Mondlane's whereabouts and state of health are unknown," reads a statement published on his Facebook page.

The alarm was sounded after one of his advisors with whom he was in the caravan posted a message on the same social network asking God for protection for Venâncio Mondlane "wherever he is".

Other assassination attempts have already been made against Mondlane, one during a pre-election rally in Zavala, in Inhambane province, and another during the period in which he led the post-election protests from abroad.

The same document states that, as a result of the "shots fired at close range and aimed at the people", two children were fatally shot, 16 people were injured, including a member of Venâncio Mondlane's entourage, and tear gas bullets were fired.