A rebel leader in Mozambique has been killed following an intense gun battle with government troops in his forest hide-out in central Sofala province, police have said.

Mariano Nhongo – who led the Renamo Military Junta – was killed along with a close associate of his.

Nhongo had broken away from Renamo, rejecting a peace deal it had signed with President Filipe Nyusi in 2019 to end conflict.

On Peace Day on 4 October, Mr Nyusi said that troops had reached Nhongo’s base. The president urged him to surrender.

Nhongo fighters were responsible for small-scale attacks on civilians.