Mozambique: Alleged rebels kidnap women and children in Macomia district

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: Alleged rebels kidnap women and children in Macomia district

1:28 CAT | 05 Feb 2025

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Voz De Cabo Delgado]

Alleged rebel groups have kidnapped 10 people, including children, in the district of Macomia, in the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, community sources told Lusa on Tuesday.

The victims are women and children, kidnapped in broad daylight on Sunday in the village of Quinto Congresso, on the EN380 road in Macomia district, a source speaking from Macomia told Lusa.

“The victims were with their families, including mothers, children and grandchildren, near the village, when they were surprised by the group,” explained the source.

In addition to kidnapping the 10 people, the alleged rebels stole food, the source added.

“They also took meat that belonged to three old hunters from the community,” the source said.

The situation caused panic among residents and some decided to abandon the community, taking refuge in the district headquarters, another source from Macomia told Lusa.

In an official statement, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that it is “deeply concerned” about the increase in child abductions by rebel groups in Cabo Delgado, warning that victims are sometimes forced to take on combat roles.

“Unicef is deeply concerned by a recent spike in abduction of children by non-state armed groups (NSAGs) in Cabo Delgado province,” the document states.

According to this United Nations agency, 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,” the UNICEF document reads, adding that the agency is “strengthening child protection activities in affected areas” in response.

The gas-rich province of Cabo Delgado has been facing an armed rebellion since October 2017, 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 soldiers supporting Mozambique in the fight against the rebels.

Source: Lusa