Africa-Press – Mozambique. Residents of the village of Nacuta, in the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, on Tuesday reported an attack by a group of alleged terrorists, who looted the village and took three people, causing the remaining residents to flee.
According to community sources, the attack on Nacuta, in the region of Metuge, about 60 kilometres from the city of Pemba, took place during the early hours of today, with the insurgents entering the village discreetly.
“They came in, broke into three huts and took food,” reported a source from the village, speaking from Metuge.
There are no reports of fatalities, but the presence of the rebels created fear and led to residents abandoning the village.
“People slept in the woods because their presence was horrible,” he added.
After looting the huts, the rebels took three people from the community, forcing them to carry the goods into the woods, releasing them later.
Members associated with the extremist group Islamic State (IS) had already claimed responsibility on Monday for a new attack in a village in Cabo Delgado, with at least one ‘Christian’ beheaded, in a moment of violence that left thousands displaced in that Mozambican province.
The claim, made through IS propaganda channels, said that the attack took place near Nangade, during which “they captured one of the Christians’” and “executed him”.
Other claims in recent days, confirmed by local Catholic Church sources, point to houses and churches being set on fire in various parts of Cabo Delgado since the end of July, including the beheading of several ‘Christians’ among the general public.
On Saturday, the same group claimed responsibility for another attack on a village in the Ancuabe region the previous day, with the rebels claiming that they had “captured a member of the local militia”, who was then “beheaded”.
The day before, but in the Balama region, insurgents allegedly belonging to the Ahlu-Sunnah wal Jama`a (ASWJ) group, associated with IS, claimed to have set fire to the home of a local ‘militia commander’, in an apparent reference to the “naparamas” guerrillas, who are also fighting these groups.
More than 57,000 people have been displaced since 20 July in the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado following a resurgence of attacks by extremists, according to data from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
According to the latest IOM report, with data from 20 July to 3 August, “the escalation of attacks and growing fear of violence” by non-state armed groups in the regions of Muidumbe, Ancuabe and Chiúre have led to the displacement of approximately 57,034 people, a total of 13,343 families.
This includes 490 pregnant women, 1,077 elderly people, 191 people with mobility problems and 126 children separated from their parents, who walk more than 50 kilometres through the forest, night and day, mainly towards the district headquarters of Chiúre, in the south of Cabo Delgado province.
This is the highest peak of people displaced by attacks and heading for Chiure headquarters in about a year.
The IOM information adds that agents on the ground indicate that “food is the most urgent humanitarian need”, followed by shelter and non-food items.
Of this total number of displaced persons, 22,939 were sheltered in Namisir and 27,558 in Micone, in both cases in two schools in the village of Chiúre, the district headquarters.
The Minister of National Defence admitted at the end of July that he was concerned about the wave of new attacks in Cabo Delgado, adding that the defence forces were on the ground pursuing the armed rebels.
“As a security force, we are not satisfied with the current situation, given that in recent days the terrorists have gained access to areas further away from the centre of gravity that we had identified,” Cristóvão Chume told journalists.
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