Mozambique: New wave of extremism attacking Christians

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Mozambique: New wave of extremism attacking Christians

7:00 CAT | 12 May 2025

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Lusa]

A new wave of attacks by Islamic extremist groups in northern Mozambique is targeting the local Christian community, with beheadings, murders, kidnappings and the burning of houses and churches, the ACN organisation reported on Thursday.

“Many Christians are suffering. Some chapels have also been burned, as have their houses. The social projects no longer work, and the people are in despair,” said Passionist priest Kwiriwi Fonseca, quoted in a report by the international organisation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

The attacks involved looting, arson, kidnappings and “selective murders,” ACN said, based on sources from the Christian community on the ground.

The attackers came in at night, demanded money, shot civilians and set houses on fire. Those who could not pay risked being kidnapped. Community members reported ransom demands of up to 10,000 meticais [€140], often under threat of death, the ACINorganisation said.

Gas-rich Cabo Delgado province, in the north of the country, has been facing an armed rebellion since 2017, which has left thousands dead and caused a humanitarian crisis with more than a million people displaced.

The new movements of extremists in northern Mozambique include Niassa, a province neighbouring Cabo Delgado, where, since their outbreak on 29 April, they have already caused two deaths – two forest rangers beheaded – and more than 1,500 displacements in the region.

According to ACN, the attacks have intensified in recent weeks and caused a new wave of internally displaced persons. According to United Nations agencies, around 15,000 people fled their homes between late March and mid-April in northern Mozambique.

The missionary priest emphasised that violence continues to be part of everyday life in northern Mozambique and that in recent days there have been attacks in the Ancuabe region of Cabo Delgado, with terrorists moving from the centre to the north: “Terrorism continues… and we have denounced this violence because people cannot continue to be punished in this way.”

“All the newly displaced people mentioned that they had fled because of direct attacks on their villages, involving looting, arson, kidnappings and selective killings,” added the missionary priest, saying, however, that “all religious groups are suffering, not just Christians,” and that the Church’s support “is often their only source of help.”

In collaboration with the diocese of Pemba, Cabo Delgado, ACN reports that it has provided emergency aid to the displaced, “including food for more than 2,000 families” and trauma counselling for terrorism victims.

In 2024 alone, at least 349 people died in attacks by Islamic extremist groups in northern Mozambique, an increase of 36% over the previous year, according to a study released by the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies (ACSS), an academic institution of the US Department of Defence.

Source: Lusa