At least four assailants were killed in a shootout with police this morning during an attempted robbery at a construction company in Matola, on the outskirts of Maputo.

“The criminals became aware of the police presence and opened fire on them. Our officers returned fire, killing four of the assailants,” said Cláudio Ngulele, spokesperson for the Mozambican Republic Police (PRM) in Maputo Province.

According to the police, among the deceased is a man believed to be a member of a gang allegedly involved in kidnappings, who had escaped from the Maputo Maximum Security Prison last Christmas, during a deadly prison break in which around 2,000 inmates fled.

Police recovered a bag containing pistols and AK-47 assault rifles near the scene of the shooting. Authorities believe the weapons were being used by the suspects in their criminal activities, Ngulele added.

Mozambique—particularly the capital, Maputo, and its surrounding areas—has recently witnessed a spike in violent crime.

Today’s shootout is the third violent incident of its kind reported in Matola in less than a month. In the two previous cases, police officers were killed in what authorities believe were revenge attacks.

On Wednesday, the PRM confirmed that two police officers were shot dead in broad day light in Matola after being hit by a total of 54 bullets.

That attack took place in the Infulene neighbourhood, where a senior PRM inspector and an officer from the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC—the Mozambican equivalent of South Africa’s Hawks) were gunned down inside a car, according to the police.

Last month, a senior officer from the PRM’s Rapid Intervention Unit (UIR) was killed inside his car in Nkobe, another neighbourhood in Matola, after being shot approximately 50 times by three unidentified assailants.