Mozambican journalist and son shot at in ‘murder attempt’

The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Mozambican authorities to investigate a shooting described by journalist Carlitos Cadangue as an attempted assassination of himself and his son, following threats over his reporting.

“The attack on Carlitos Cadangue and his son is a horrifying reminder that Mozambique is increasingly unsafe for journalists,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Muthoki Mumo. “While Cadangue and his son are lucky to have survived without physical injury, they require urgent state action to credibly investigate this shooting, including any possible police involvement, and to ensure justice.”

On February 4, Cadangue was driving his 19-year-old son home in central Manica province when a black pick-up van blocked the road and two hooded men, wearing what appeared to be police uniforms, fired several shots at the journalist’s car.

Cadangue told CPJ that they ducked the bullets striking their car until the assailants shouted, “it’s done” and drove away because they “thought we were not moving because we were dead.”

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Mozambique condemned the incident as a “murder attempt.”

Hours before the attack, Cadangue’s report on the deaths of 11 illegal miners in a landslide had been aired. It was the latest in a series of reports by Cadangue that the privately owned television network STV had broadcast since September about the impact of mining in Manica.

On September 30, the government suspended all mining licenses in the province, a move fiercely opposed by mining companies.

Cadangue said numerous friends warned him in January not to leave the house because people in the mining industry “were out to get me.” He started restricting his movements and told his employer, STV, that he felt unsafe.

Cadangue told CPJ that he included the van’s registration plate in his report to the police about the attack and officers were now protecting his home, although his employer had been forced to step into pay for their food and transport.

President Daniel Chapo condemned the attack and called for accountability.

CPJ is advocating to end impunity for attacks on journalists in Mozambique, including the deadly 2024 police shooting of blogger Albino Sibia, known as Mano Shottas, while broadcasting live on Facebook and the disappearances of Arlindo Chissale in 2025 and Ibraimo Mbaruco in 2020.

National Criminal Investigation Service spokesperson Hilario Lole told CPJ by phone that an investigation was ongoing and the agency would inform the public as soon as there were developments.