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Children “know that terrorists sometimes go outside the province” of Cabo Delgado “to recruit” and “may well arrive here” in Maputo province, southern Mozambique, to get fighters, said Nyusi, at the end of a visit to the Filipe Jacinto Nyusi Secondary School, where he met with around 6,000 pupils and spoke of the risk of teenagers being recruited by armed groups. [Photo: Presidente Filipe Nyusi/Facebook]
Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi on Thursday urged children not to allow themselves to be recruited by armed groups operating in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, warning that there is knowledge of the presence of minors among the insurgents.
Children “know that terrorists sometimes go outside the province” of Cabo Delgado “to recruit” and “may well arrive here” in Maputo province, southern Mozambique, to get fighters, said Nyusi.
The Mozambican head of state was speaking to journalists at the end of a visit to the Filipe Jacinto Nyusi Secondary School in the district of Boane, Maputo province. There, he met with around 6,000 pupils and spoke of the risk of teenagers being recruited by armed groups.
The rebels have recruited teenagers in some districts of Nampula province, in northern Mozambique, and have attempted the same in Manica province, in the centre of the country, he added.
To avoid recruitment by armed groups, he continued, children should be warned “in a gentle and educational way” about this danger.
Several independent reports and studies on the war in Cabo Delgado have revealed the presence of children and teenagers in the ranks of the insurgents, who have kidnapped civilians in their incursions.
Among those who “harm other children, some are also children”, emphasised Filipe Nyusi.
After several months of relative normality in the districts affected by armed violence in Cabo Delgado, the province has been experiencing new movements and attacks by rebel groups for a few weeks now.
The current new wave of terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado caused 99,313 displaced people in February, including 61,492 children (62%), according to an estimate released this week by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
On 29 February, the Mozambican Minister of National Defence, Cristóvão Chume, confirmed attacks by insurgents in four districts of Cabo Delgado province but said that this was not “an upsurge” in terrorist activities in the north.
“What has happened is that there are small groups of terrorists who have left their barracks in the Namarussia area – which we have said is their base – and have gone further south, attacked some villages and created panic,” said Cristóvão Chume.
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