Africa-Press – Mozambique. The passage of alleged terrorists left the community of Impire, in Metuge district, Cabo Delgado, in panic, local sources told Lusa on Wednesday.
According to sources, the alleged rebels crossed National Road 1 heading north at around 22:00 on Tuesday, prompting people to flee. Impire is located in Metuge district, on the border with the neighbouring district of Ancuabe, around 60 kilometres from Pemba, the provincial capital.
“We spent the whole night in the woods because the terrorists passed through the village,” said a local source, speaking from the town of Metuge.
There are no reports of fatalities, but the situation led residents to flee to Metuge and Pemba, fearing further attacks.
“The situation was chaotic. My brother fled,” said another source.
Gas-rich Cabo Delgado province has been the target of terrorist attacks for eight years, with the first incident recorded on 5 October 2017 in the district of Mocímboa da Praia.
In recent days, the community of Impire has served as a transit corridor for these armed groups.
Almost 40,000 people have fled six districts of Cabo Delgado, as well as the neighbouring province of Nampula, due to the upsurge in terrorist attacks in northern Mozambique, according to figures released this month by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
According to the UN agency’s most recent field report, between 22 September and 6 October, the escalation of attacks and the insecurity caused by armed groups led to “new displacements” — a total of 39,643 people, equivalent to 12,335 families — mainly in the districts of Balama, Mocímboa da Praia, Montepuez and Chiúre, Cabo Delgado, but also in Memba, in Nampula province.
During this period, the IOM recorded a total of 26,405 displaced people from Mocímboa da Praia, due to insecurity in the 30 de Junho and Filipe Nyusi neighbourhoods, located on the outskirts of the town, which was the scene of at least two insurgent attacks, with several deaths, during September.
From the district of Balama, the IOM counted 5,585 displaced people from the towns of Mavala and Mpake, who fled to Ntete and Mieze, while from Montepuez district, 3,980 people were displaced due to attacks and insecurity in Mararange, Mirate and Nacololo.
In the Chiúre district — which at the end of July had already seen around 57,000 people displaced by various attacks by armed groups — a further 1,164 people have been displaced in recent days, fleeing from Mazeze and Murocue. On a smaller scale, the IOM reports 144 displaced people from Nangade district, 121 from Macomia and 66 from Muidumbe.
In addition to these districts of Cabo Delgado, the IOM report states that the “recent attacks” in Memba, Nampula province, “also forced 2,178 individuals to flee the villages of Chipene and Necoro”, in this case to the district of Erati.
The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) counts 6,257 deaths after eight years of terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado, warning of ongoing instability and an upsurge in violence.
“The situation is very unstable. In September, the Islamic State of Mozambique (ISM) was active in 11 districts of Cabo Delgado and also crossed into Nampula at the end of the month,” ACLED researcher Peter Bofin told Lusa.
According to the senior researcher for the organisation, which gathers and analyses data on violent conflicts and protests worldwide, since October 2017 at least 2,209 incidents of violence have been recorded in Cabo Delgado, with 6,257 reported deaths, at least 2,631 of them civilians.
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