Renamo is Mozambique’s biggest opposition organization. Mariano Nhongo, the head of a hardline group of the Mozambique National Resistance (Renamo) died while fighting.
Nhongo was killed in Sofala province at around 7 a.m. today, together with one of his colleagues, Ngau Kama, according to security officials, following an intense struggle in the forests where he was hiding.
Nhongo, a hardline leader, had refused to lay down his arms despite local and international efforts to demilitarize Mozambique. President Filipe Nyusi recently stated that FDS had gone out to Renamo to see if Nhongo had surrendered.
Renamo had spent 16 years fighting the ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo) before becoming the country’s largest opposition party in 1992.
It does, however, retain armed warriors. There have been three peace agreements between Frelimo and Renamo since 1992. All of them have failed to be completely executed, with the most recent agreement being inked in August of this year. After Ossufo Momade was chosen president of Renamo, Nhongo and his men decided to leave.
Nhongo is suspected of being behind a series of small-scale attacks on the populace in central Sofala and Manica provinces, which have claimed the lives of 30 people. He refused to meet with Renamo’s leadership for talks before his death.
He also wanted President Nyusi to sign a new peace agreement, recalling the failure of the one signed with Momade in August of 2019.