Mozambique: Latest attacks kill 20 more people in coastal zone – NGO

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Mozambique: Latest attacks kill 20 more people in coastal zone – NGO

3:09 CAT | 19 Oct 2020

File photo: Twitter / @adriano_nuvunga

At least 20 people died during the latest rebel attacks in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, according to a survey by the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), a Mozambican non-governmental organisation (NGO).

“In recent weeks, villages along the coast of Macomia district have been the target of terrorist attacks, with at least 20 people murdered, dozens of houses burned down and goods were stolen,” said the document dated Sunday.

According to the CDD, from 30 September to 8 October, a group of terrorists occupied the administrative post of Mucojo (on the coast of Cabo Delgado) and from this point made several raids to neighbouring villages.

Among the dead there are at least two members of the Mozambican Defense and Security Forces who were killed in Pangane, one of the trading posts in that coastal area, the document added.

“In Pangane, motorboats, boat engines, and many houses were burned. The ‘al-Shabab’ [name given to them in the region] used five motorboats to transport the stolen goods and headed toward Mocímboa da Praia,” one survivor said.

Mocímboa da Praia is another coastal village that since August has been under the control of the insurgents and is about 60 kilometres from the site of the region’s natural gas exploration projects, the largest private investment in Africa.

After occupying the village, the insurgents have also launched attacks on the neighbouring islands in the vast Quirimbas archipelago, which extends along the entire coast of Cabo Delgado.

Humanitarian assistance in the region is not enough to meet the needs, noted the CDD, with famine and outbreaks of diseases that have caused the death of at least 10 people in Matemo, one of the islands of the archipelago.

According to the NGO, the most recent attacks have caused a new wave of displaced persons seeking security in neighbouring districts and provinces, namely in Pemba, the provincial capital, south of the insurgency.

On Saturday, about 20 boats arrived at Paquite beach, carrying hundreds of displaced persons who fled from the attacks in Mucojo, in Macomia district,” CDD said, which cited estimates that the number of displaced persons in Pemba alone may reach 80,000.

In all, the Mozambican government and relief organisations, including UN agencies, point to a total of 300,000 displaced due to the armed conflict in Cabo Delgado.

There are different estimates for the number of deaths, ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 victims.

Humanitarian Crisis in #CaboDelgado, Mozambique. Hundreds of #IDPs arriving in Pemba after days of travel by boat without food; water. Urgent #ACTION is need to save lives! @CDD_Moz @SiphoMalunga @OSISA @NgcuzaG @SAHRDNetwork @DeproseM @TamukaKagoro77 @LuatyBeirao @TitusGwemende pic.twitter.com/1t8AVAKRJw

— Prof. Adriano Nuvunga, Ph.D. (@adriano_nuvunga) October 19, 2020