Africa-Press – Mozambique. Actions by terrorist groups in Muidumbe district, Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, have displaced at least 1,319 people since late August, according to a report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), consulted by Lusa this Wednesday.
According to the report from the United Nations agency, with field data up to September 3, an attack by these groups on August 25 in the village of Mapate, about 20 kilometres from Muidumbe district headquarters town, “triggered the displacement of 1,319 individuals”, members of 310 families, including 320 children, to temporary centres in Mandava and Muambula.
“Of the 1,319 individuals, 91 elderly and 23 pregnant women were recorded. Main humanitarian needs include food, shelter and non-food Items. Field teams also report that new arrivals are being hosted by local families in Mandava and Muambula, further stretching the limited resources available,” it reads.
The IOM report notes that this was the highest number of displaced people during the “spike” of displacement in Muidumbe “in the last three months”, due to attacks by insurgent groups.
By the end of July, attacks by terrorist groups in southern Cabo Delgado province had already displaced more than 57,000 people in the Chiúre district.
Cabo Delgado province has seen a resurgence of rebel attacks since July, with the districts of Chiúre, Muidumbe, Quissanga, Ancuabe, Meluco, and most recently, Mocímboa da Praia being targeted.
On Monday, Lusa also reported that at least six people were killed and farmland was ransacked during an attack by suspected terrorists in Muidumbe district on Saturday.
The Mozambican government on Tuesday lamented the terrorist attacks recorded in recent days in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, reiterating that it was the state’s role to pursue, delay, and stop attacks so that the population suffers “as little suffering as possible.”
“We regret this misfortune, but we won’t stop there. That’s why we have forces committed to this matter, and details will be provided, if necessary, by the security entities actually on the ground or by those responsible at the central level,” said Council of Ministers spokesperson Inocêncio Impissa after a cabinet meeting in Maputo.
Referring to the attack that occurred in Mocímboa da Praia on Sunday (September 7th), in which four people were killed, Impissa reiterated that the Defence and Security Forces “are on the ground”, under the coordination of the Ministers of Defence and of the Interior, to whom he assigned responsibility for providing information on the situation in that region.
He also stated that it was the state’s role to curb the “wave of criminals” in Cabo Delgado so that new attacks do not occur and the “peace of Mozambicans anywhere in the country” is not jeopardized.
At least four people were killed and a vehicle was set on fire after terrorists opened fire in the town of Mocímboa da Praia, local sources told Lusa on Monday (08-09).
The district administrator confirmed the four deaths, adding that order had been restored in the region, with Mozambican Defence and Security Forces pursuing the suspected terrorists who attacked the town.
In 2024 alone, at least 349 people died in attacks in northern Mozambique, most of them claimed by the extremist group Islamic State, a 36% increase compared to the previous year, according to a study released by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS), an academic institution of the US Department of Defense.
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