Mtwara, Tanzania — Tanzanian villagers who watched in horror their loved ones shot at point-blank while others including children kidnapped have spoken about their horrifying ordeal carried out by terrorists who infiltrated into the southern Mtwara region, killing at least 20 people and destroying property.
Horribly Shocking
Husna Mahmoud told Ubuntu Times how the gun-trotting militant equipped with an automatic rifle and a flashlight, burst into her mud-walled shack in the middle of the night while everyone slept.
He killed her husband punched her six-year-old daughter and shoved a gun barrel into the mouth of her brother.
“I don’t want to remember the suffering my children went through, it was horribly shocking,” she said angrily.
Gun Rampage
More than 300 heavily-armed terrorists believed to be affiliated with Daesh/ISIS group, raided Kitaya village, nestled on the banks of Ruvuma river, razing homes, killing people, police confirmed.
Sources said the militants sneaked into the country by sea and launched their gun rampage after crossing the Ruvuma River on the border of Tanzania and Mozambique.
The group claimed responsibility for the attack which reportedly killed more than 20 people including, officials said.
Military Troops
A couple of months ago Tanzania dispatched military troops in Mtwara to flush out terrorists believed to be hiding on the border region.
Sitting on a straw mat on a perched ground of the sleepy Mtwara village, Mahmoud sank deeper into her brown shawl. Hidden from view her speech restricted as she recounts her side of what had happened during the fateful day.
“I was woken up by a man shouting Allah Akbar, he broke into our door and pulled my husband up, I screamed and screamed before he shot him,” she said.
Husna, whose voice is cracking and was momentarily unable to speak, recalled how the gunman traded insults before a blood-soaked corpse of her husband.
“I begged him not to kill my husband, it was too late,” she recalled.
Eyewitnesses said the gunmen, wanted to inflict fear as they spread their doctrine.
Local residents at Kitaya have since been living in fear; some of them hiding in the forest at night to avoid being ambushed.
Gruesome Murders
A video posted by the terrorist group on social media, show them decapitating a man and throwing his head onto a road.
In the videos, the murderers, who spoke in Swahili said they were there to teach their doctrine and had nothing to do with the general elections.
Despite its reputation for peace and stability, Tanzania has lately experienced a rising number of Islamic insurgent attacks. While most of these attacks rarely make international headlines, observers say the risk is still high as jihadists in Cabo Delgado province of Mozambique are seeking to exploit regions with no strong presence of security forces to inflict fear.
Dismantling The Network
Simon Sirro, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) said they have arrested dozens of attackers and are still interrogating them.
“If you kill Tanzanians, their blood cannot go in vain. We will do all we can to bring them to justice,” he told reporters.
According to him, preliminary investigations show the attackers are part of a vicious network of insurgents who had committed a spate of murders in Tanzania’s coastal district of Rufiji in 2017.
Security sources suggest the terrorist group was aiming to recruit vulnerable young people in coastal regions notably Pwani, Tanga, and Mtwara where citizens harbor social, economic, and political grievances.
IGP Sirro said police investigations have found that the Mtwara attackers include radicalized Tanzanian citizens.
Dismissing Criticism
Sirro dismissed criticism against the police force saying they work closely with Interpol and their counterparts in Mozambique to dismantle the evil axis.
The latest terrorist attack has heightened security risks for investors engaged in multibillion-dollar gas exploration projects in the two countries.
While ISIS had not been directly linked to any attacks in Tanzania, security sources warned that youths from Kibiti, Mkuranga, and Rufiji districts were vulnerable to radicalized Islamic doctrine.
In October 2013, police in Mtwara confiscated firearms, machetes, and 25 DVDs containing terrorism training materials, including lectures instructing followers to “liberate Muslims in East Africa.”