Mozambique: Over 10,000 displaced in Cabo Delgado in February – UN

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Mozambique: Over 10,000 displaced in Cabo Delgado in February – UN

10:22 CAT | 19 Mar 2025

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

The United Nations estimates that 10,140 people were forced to leave their homes in February due to armed attacks in the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, where there have been attacks by Islamic extremist groups since 2017.

According to a report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), consulted on Monday by Lusa, 93% of these movements of people were forced, due to “attacks or fear of attacks”.

“Most of the movement originated in the districts of Macomia and Meluco towards the district headquarters,” it explains.

Since October 2017, gas-rich Cabo Delgado has been facing an armed rebellion, which has caused thousands of deaths and a humanitarian crisis, with more than a million people displaced.

According to the UN agency, the province has also seen displacement of a “lesser scale” in the districts of Mocímboa da Praia and Muedumbe.

“Food and shelter (…) are the main priorities reported by those displaced,” it added.

In 2024 alone, at least 349 people died in attacks by Islamic extremist groups in that province, an increase of 36% on the previous year, according to data recently released by the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies (ACSS), an academic institution of the US government’s Department of Defence that analyses conflicts in Africa.

The last major attack took place on May 10 and 11, 2024, on the district headquarters of Macomia, with around a hundred rebels sacking the town, causing several deaths and heavy fighting with the Mozambique defence and security forces and Rwandan soldiers, who support Mozambique in combating the armed attacks.

Source: Lusa