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MAPUTO. — Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama, who has been holed up in the forests of central Mozambique, on Wednesday claimed the military had staged a fresh attack against his base. “Last Friday the Frelimo (ruling party) once again tried to attack us,” Dhlakama said from Gorongosa forest in a news conference via telephone to journalists gathered at the party headquarters in the capital Maputo.

“They (government troops) started firing from far and . . . then we let them come close. When they got very close we massacred them “ Dhlakama said, without specifying the number of dead or wounded.

“But why do they want to kill me?” he asked, making reference to a previous attempt on his life that forced him to retreat to the bush last year.

Dhlakama claimed the army had deployed 12 armoured vehicles and troops that he said included “mercenaries” from Angola, China, Tanzania and Zimbabwe near his mountainous base. — AFP.