Mozambique: New wave of attacks in Cabo Delgado displaces about 47,000 – NGO

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Mozambique: New wave of attacks in Cabo Delgado displaces about 47,000 – NGO

7:31 CAT | 04 Aug 2025

Screen grab: Instituto de Psicologia Paz de Moçambique

The non-governmental organization (NGO) Instituto de Psicologia Paz de Moçambique (Peace Psychology Institute of Mozambique) estimates the number of people internally displaced by the recent wave of attacks in Cabo Delgado province, in the north of the country, at approximately 47,000.

The Peace Psychology Institute report, consulted ton Friday by Lusa, states that the majority of displaced people are concentrated in the district of Chiúre, which hosts 42,411 people from 10,075 families. The districts of Muidumbe and Ancuabe are also home to displaced people, with 2,310 and 1,946 people, respectively, the document indicates.

Elements associated with the extremist group Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack on July 24th on the village and police station of Chiúre Velho, in the south of Cabo Delgado province, using automatic weapons and stealing material.

The organization’s document points to the possibility of the number of displaced continuing to rise as a result of the July 28 attacks on the villages of Namahapa and Melija (Ocua).

In recent days, incidents have been reported, including attacks, deaths, kidnapping and populations fleeing, also in villages in the Ancuabe district and in the administrative post of Ocua.

The report by the Peace Psychology Institute of Mozambique indicates that 262 families received assistance kits at the Micone Transition Center, Chiúre, where nutritional screening was conducted, particularly for minors.

At the Namicir center, collaboration between several organizations, such as the World Food Programme, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and UNICEF, benefited “800 families”, the same document reports.

READ: Mozambique: Over 26,000 displaced last week in Cabo Delgado – IOM

The report concludes that resource mobilization is essential to continue supporting these populations. It adds that “every contribution counts to save lives and restore hope.”

The gas-rich northern province of Cabo Delgado has been facing an armed rebellion since 2017, resulting in thousands of deaths and a humanitarian crisis, displacing more than a million people.

At least 349 people died in attacks by Islamic extremist groups in northern Mozambique in 2024, a 36% increase over the previous year, according to a study released in February by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS).

According to the academic institution of the US Department of Defense, which studies security issues in Africa, this “recovery in violence levels” in Mozambique “reflects the strategy” of the ASWJ group – an IS affiliate operating in Cabo Delgado province – of “expanding the conflict by moving inland and into more rural areas”.

Source: Lusa