Mozambique: Over 66,000 displaced last week fleeing insurgents in Nampula province – IOM

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Mozambique: Over 66,000 displaced last week fleeing insurgents in Nampula province – IOM

3:09 CAT | 25 Nov 2025

Image: IOM

More than 66,000 people fled two administrative posts in Memba, in the Mozambican province of Nampula, last week due to attacks by terrorist groups, according to data from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

According to a field report from that United Nations agency, joint verification between the IOM and local authorities “confirmed the displacement of 13,131 families,” about 66,143 people, between the 16th and 22nd November, from the region of Memba to that of Eráti, both in Nampula province.

The displaced people, including, according to the IOM, 1,050 elderly people, 786 pregnant women and 43,973 children, fled from the administrative posts of Mazua and Chipene, near the neighbouring province of Cabo Delgado, where terrorist groups have been operating for more than eight years.

“Recent attacks by non-state armed groups in the district of Memba, Nampula province, between the 10th and 17th November, have triggered new displacements, exacerbating the escalation of violence in Cabo Delgado and northern Mozambique in 2025,” reads the IOM report.

It adds that “women, girls, the elderly and people with disabilities face even greater vulnerabilities,” including situations of gender-based violence (GBV).

“The loss of civil documents and the presence of unaccompanied or separated children further exacerbate these risks,” warns the IOM.

The document points out that 49,924 displaced persons are gathered in Alua Sede alone, with another 8,895 in Miliva and 7,324 at the Alua Velha Primary School, but stresses that “the reception areas remain overcrowded and improvised, exposing families to the dangers of the rainy season, the risk of cholera and protection concerns.”

At least five people died in recent extremist attacks in Memba, northern Mozambique, the governor of Nampula province said on the 18th November, warning that the number could rise due to a lack of information from areas that are still inaccessible.

“There are exactly five deaths, including beheadings and shootings. That is what we have at the moment. There may be more, where we have no information,” Governor Eduardo Abdula told reporters on that day.

Government authorities in Nampula province had previously reported that at least three people had died in the district of Memba in attacks in previous days attributed to alleged terrorists from Cabo Delgado who, in these actions, set fire to 101 houses, vehicles, a mill and “kidnapped some citizens”.

The instability also led to the suspension of several public projects in Memba, including the construction of a health centre and the region’s water supply system.

Members associated with the extremist group Islamic State claimed responsibility for at least two attacks in the Mozambican province of Nampula, killing five Christians, Lusa previously reported.

In the claim, made through the group’s propaganda channels, it is stated that in one of the attacks on a village “they captured and shot four Christians” and burned a church. In another location, they claimed to have killed a Christian and burned two houses.

The gas-rich province of Cabo Delgado in northern Mozambique has been the target of extremist attacks for eight years, with the first attack recorded on 5 October 2017 in the district of Mocímboa da Praia.

Source: Lusa