Attack in Cabo Delgado: “We are in the bush, because we are afraid”

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Attack in Cabo Delgado: “We are in the bush, because we are afraid”

2:15 CAT | 31 Jan 2020

[Photo: Social Media]

Residents were in hiding yesterday after an attack in the province of Cabo Delgado in northern Mozambique. Armed men set fire to houses, schools, markets, while victims took refuge in the bush, without food.

A Mozambican teacher says the attackers vandalised and burned down several buildings in Bilibiza, in Quissanga district, Cabo Delgado province, where she lives with her son.

“They torched the whole neighbourhood, the market, the hospital … Even my house is burned down, along with all my belongings,” she told DW Africa yesterday.

The armed group attacked several villages in the region and residents fled to the bush. The mood among residents is one of despair.

“We are still in the bush, because we are afraid. We crossed the river [Montepuez] to the other bank, because they [the attackers] say that they will continue [to attack] at night,” the teacher says.

“We are sad, really very sad, because everything we had is gone. How we will recover we do not know. We have no way [to recover] – we don’t even know how are we going to go work.”

Surviving without food

Residents were surviving on cassava leaves and did not know how much longer they could hold on.

“There is no food here, no food. They ruined all the food, they burned it. We have merely survived since yesterday. We can only stay here in the bush one more day. Tomorrow, we will have to take a chance. We will go back to our neighbourhoods if they do not go in there again tonight. But we do not know what will happen,” the 37-year-old teacher says.

In addition to burning down houses, the armed group attacked the Instituto Agrário de Bilibiza, the only technical secondary school in Cabo Delgado. The institution has 400 students, is managed by the Aga Khan Foundation and is responsible for introducing new agricultural techniques and carrying out infrastructure projects. In a statement, the Institute said that none of the 11 students and seven teachers who were on the scene at the time of the attack were in danger.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Portuguese government condemned the attack and stressed the importance of the projects carried out by the Foundation, which is partnered by the Portuguese authorities.

There is still no information about casualties or injuries persons after the attacks. Mozambican authorities have not so far issued any comment.

Violence in Cabo Delgado province broke out in 2017 and has already claimed at least 350 lives, and about 60,000 people have been forced from their homes. The Islamic State jihadist group has claimed some of the attacks, since June, but their responsibility has not been confirmed by Mozambican authorities.

The historic #Bilibiza Institute burned on the 29th January by the #Jihadists insurgents in northern Mozambique, Cabo Delgado. It is time for the #Regionalsolidarity. #Russian mercenaries not the right approach, Mr. President @FNyusi. @shammad100 @TamukaKagoro77 @AGA_Platform pic.twitter.com/sqJDZp0YgE

— Prof. Adriano Nuvunga (@adriano_nuvunga) January 31, 2020

A Escola de Professores do Futuro (EPF) gerida pela @adppmozambique é uma das infraestruturas atacadas pelos extremistas de #CaboDelgado na tarde de quarta-feira em #Quissanga, #Bilibiza. Ate aqui não há registo de vitimas humanas. pic.twitter.com/OCDj11whzC

— Alexandre (@AllexandreMZ) January 31, 2020