Mozambique: Over 58,000 displaced in two weeks fleeing insurgents – IOM

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: Over 58,000 displaced in two weeks fleeing insurgents – IOM

5:39 CAT | 27 Feb 2024

File photo: Lusa

The new wave of terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, has displaced 58,116 people in just over two weeks, according to an estimate released on Tuesday by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

According to a weekly bulletin from the intergovernmental agency, the attacks that occurred between February 8 and 25, mainly in the districts of Chiùre and Macomia, displaced 54,534 and 2,626 respectively in that period, mainly children (35,295).

“The attacks, and the fear of attacks by armed groups,” occurred mainly in Ocua, Mazeze and Chiùre-Velho, in the district of Chiùre, with the displaced people fleeing to the town of Chiùre (15,354) or to Erati, in neighbouring Nampula province (33,218).

IOM records point to 11,901 families displaced, by boat, bus or on foot in the south of Cabo Delgado province in just over two weeks of February.

In the same bulletin, the IOM states that between December 22, 2023 and February 25, 2024, “sporadic attacks and fear of attacks by armed groups” in Macomia, Chiure, Mecufi, Mocímboa da Praia and Muidumbe had already led to 15,470 families, totalling 71,681 individuals, fleeing the area.

The Mozambican police told Lusa on Monday that they were “filtering” the movement of displaced people caused by the new wave of terrorist attacks in recent days, especially in the Chiùre district, looking for possible insurgents embedded amongst them.

“We are working with the communities, taking into account that we have to filter to be able to understand whether, among this group of returnees in Chiùre district, there are any infiltrators, some of whom may be associated with terrorism,” said Aniceto Magome, spokesperson for the police in Chiùre.

Terrorist attacks in the south of Cabo Delgado have cost the lives of Chiùre village residents in the last two weeks, leading to the flight of at least 13,000 people to the town of Chiùre, now concentrated in resettlement facilities in three schools or taken in by relatives, according to a source from the local authority.

“The province of Cabo Delgado, at the moment, is in a relatively calm situation. Speaking specifically of the district of Chiùre, we can say that the situation is already under control, with the Defence and Security Forces on the ground,” Magome told Lusa in Pemba, the provincial capital.

Magome added that the population was cooperating and that there is now “a calm at district level”, even granted a degree of uncertainty.

“Right now the situation is already calm, but the situation is always volatile. We have to take this into account and we cannot let our guard down. That’s why we are carrying out patrols to see that this situation prevails and we can control the enemy’s movements,” he added.

Magome said that the Defence and Security Forces would “work together” to try to restore “a feeling of security” to the people.

“We don’t have any special occurrences in other districts, but we will continue to maintain a high level of combat readiness so that the situation prevails in that sense,” Magome remarked.

The extremist group Islamic State (IS) has claimed several attacks and fatalities in recent weeks, especially in the south of Cabo Delgado province, after a period of several months of calm.

The province has been facing attacks claimed by IS for six years, leading to a military response, since July 2021, with support from Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), liberating districts near natural gas projects.

Source: Lusa