Mozambique: UNICEF ‘deeply concerned’ about increase in child abductions by rebels

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Mozambique: UNICEF ‘deeply concerned’ about increase in child abductions by rebels

3:17 CAT | 04 Feb 2025

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Lusa]

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said that it is “deeply concerned” about the increase in child abductions by rebel groups in Cabo Delgado, warning that victims are being forced to perform combat duties.

“Unicef is deeply concerned by a recent spike in abduction of children by non-state armed groups (NSAGs) in Cabo Delgado province,” the UN agency said in an official statement.

The latest case of child abduction occurred on 23 January, when a rebel group attacked the village of Mumu, 30 kilometres from Mocimboa district headquarters town.

According to UNICEF, children who are abducted by rebels have been forced to “serve in combat and non-combat roles”, a “grave violation of children’s rights”.

“UNICEF calls for the immediate release and handover to civil authorities of the abducted children, and for the immediate cessation of abduction, recruitment and use of children, all of which constitute grave violations of children’s rights,” reads the UNICEF document, which adds that, in response to the increase in cases, the agency is “reinforcing child protection activities in impacted areas.”

In the attack on 23 January, in addition to the abduction of seven children, one person was killed by the rebels, local sources told Lusa at the time. “They were in a larger group, they started shooting and killed one of our brothers and took other people, most of them children,” a local source reported.

READ: Mozambique: Insurgents kill, kidnap children in Cabo Delgado

After the attack, the Mumu community informed the Local Force, which began patrolling the area to try to contain the rebels’ attacks.

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Mocímboa da Praia was where armed groups carried out their first attack in October 2017. For a long time, the place was described as the rebels’ “base”. During its months in the hands of rebels, Mocímboa da Praia was looted and almost all public and private infrastructure was destroyed, as well as the energy, water, communications and hospital systems.

After the first signs of stabilisation in security in recent years, it was also one of the priority points for infrastructure recovery.

At the time, authorities estimated that around 62,000 people had left the coastal town due to the conflict, with the mass exodus that occurred after the intensification of rebel actions in June 2020.

Mocímboa da Praia is located 70 kilometres south of the construction area of the TotalEnergies natural gas exploration project in Afungi, Palma.

Since October 2017, the gas-rich province of Cabo Delgado has been facing an armed rebellion with attacks claimed by movements associated with the extremist Islamic State group.

The last major attack took place on 10 and 11 May 2024, on the district headquarters of Macomia, with around a hundred insurgents looting the town, causing several deaths and heavy fighting with the Mozambican Defence and Security Forces and Rwandan military, who are supporting Mozambique in the fight against the rebels.