Mozambique halts passenger trains over security concerns

Transport authorities in Mozambique on Wednesday suspended passenger trains in central coal-rich province of Tete after former rebel movement Renamo threatened to paralyze the transport system. The state-owned port and rail company CFM said though there have been no attacks on the railway, the company decides to take a cautious view and stopped selling tickets for the passenger trains. Renamo, frustrated over alleged political discrimination against it, in last week threatened to disrupt traffic along the country's main north-south road between the Save River and the small town of Muxungue, and also to stop trains running along he Sena railway from the Moatize coal basin in Tete to the port of Beira. The Sena railway is also widely used by global mining firms Rio Tinto and Brazil's Vale for transporting coal they extracted in the region. Tete provincial governor Ratxide Gogo was quoted by state media Wednesday ordering the suspension of the railway, saying that "the passenger trains should stop, so that we can reduce the loss of human life". Attacks blamed on Renamo have left more than a dozen killed in recent weeks. Though most casualties were soldiers, the armed men began to attack civilians on the highway over the weekend, killing two and injuring several others, according to police sources. Gogo said Rio Tinto also has halted coal-carrying trains but not over the concerns of Renamo threats The governor said the immediate cause of Rio Tinto's announcement was the derailment of one of its trains on Monday, in the Doa area, caused by interference with a set of points. Tete is at the heart of Mozambique's nascent coal rush, with the region endowed with one of the world's richest undeveloped coal reserves.