At least fifty people comprising children, men, and women surrendered in the Muidumbe district. The twenty-two children and twenty-four men and women surrendered with hands up and in a single file in a village in Muidumbe. They are believed to be insurgents as they said that they decided to return following a recent amnesty offer as well as nearly starving to death in their encampment.
The recent ‘defections’ have been angering the public who have suffered a lot of losses and as such this recent group almost git lynched by the public as the community believes that when things get better the group will resurge previously defected members will yet again kill and attack them. While theoretically rehabilitation and reintegration appear simple and a guaranteed solution to solving the insurgency; reconciliation is the most effective mode to ensure that stability and tension between neighbors are eradicated.
With the major supply roads blocked by the ongoing CT Operations, the group has been downsizing and cutting down members with smaller contributions to the cause. The shortage of food, medical supplies, and weapons naturally groups classify members hierarchically with leadership and strong members are given priority while the women, weak, and injured are left behind or don’t get rations. In dire conditions as currently being experienced by the militants, mass exoduses and defections tend to be the next steps for those shunned or discriminated against.
In Mozambique, ISCAP has been fighting on the defensive for a couple of months and as such fatigue, low morale, and scarcity of resources (food, medicine, weapons) are the recurring conditions and with the leadership having gone underground petty members are left with no backup and or guidance which has led to the current defections, arrests, and surrenders.
