MAPUTO, Mozambique — Mozambican authorities say they have made some arrests after recent attacks and fighting between police and alleged members of an opposition group killed at least seven people.

Alberto Mondlane, Mozambique's interior minister, also said Tuesday that 13 people were wounded in the violence in the central province of Sofala.

Renamo, a former rebel movement, says Mozambique's Frelimo government has persecuted its members. President Armando Guebuza has urged Renamo to stick to politics and refrain from armed conflict.

Mozambique holds municipal elections this year and general elections next year

After winning independence from Portugal in 1975, Mozambique fell into a devastating war between Frelimo, then a Marxist guerrilla group, and Renamo, which was backed by neighboring South Africa's apartheid government.