Boy dies after stepping on landmine in Macomia
The 12-year-old was collecting cashew nuts when he triggered the explosive device near Nanjaba village.
A 12-year-old boy died on Thursday in Cabo Delgado after stepping on a landmine in Nanjaba, Macomia district. The boy lost his life while en route to Pemba Provincial Hospital after being transferred from Macomia Health Centre. He had been collecting cashew nuts with friends in a cashew grove near Nanjaba village when the incident occurred.
Sources confirmed the boy was immediately assisted but succumbed to his injuries due to the severity of the situation. Macomia residents believe terrorists, active in the region for nine years, placed the mine. Insurgents had exchanged gunfire with Defence and Security Forces days earlier after extorting fish from motorcyclists on the Mucojo-Macomia-sede route.
Macomia sources suggest the landmines may be part of a terrorist strategy to target Rwandan Defence Forces, who recently established a new base near Nanjaba. This base is situated in an area terrorists frequently use for North-South movements through Quissanga district.