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Maputo. – An opposition official has been shot dead outside his house in central Mozambique as months of violence and political tensions show no sign of ending, an official has told the Portuguese news agency Lusa.Renamo’s Luciano Augusto was killed by an armed group as he arrived at his home in Gurue after work on Thursday, a provincial party official was quoted as saying. Thousands of villagers in central and northern Mozambique are now sleeping “in the woods” at night because they fear they’ll become targets of a growing wave of anti-opposition violence, said official Abdala Ibrahimo.

The opposition this week accused the government of Filipe Nyusi of setting up “death squads”. But the ruling Frelimo party says it’s not responsible. The conflict, which flared up again in 2014, is pushing refugees into neighbouring countries: state media in Zimbabwe reported last month that at least 2 600 villagers had fled into the south-eastern Chipinge district.

More than 12 000 Mozambicans are known to have sought refuge in Malawi earlier this year. – News24.

Frelimo and Renamo were locked in a bloody 16-year civil war that ended in 1992. – News24.