Mozambique: Rebel attacks force over 150 Cabo Delgado schools to close

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Mozambique: Rebel attacks force over 150 Cabo Delgado schools to close

1:44 CAT | 05 Mar 2024

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

The latest rebel incursions in Cabo Delgado have now caused the temporary closure of 157 schools out of the total 978 in the province, the Provincial Director of Education has said.

Chiùre district, hit by a new wave of attacks in recent weeks, has the highest number of schools closed (40), followed by Macomia, with 35 institutions, Radio Mozambique quotes Ivaldo Quincardete as saying.

“Right now, 821 schools are operating. The district with the greatest focus, for now, is Chiùre, and we believe that very soon these schools will resume or a large part of them will be able to resume,” Quincardete noted.

The new wave of attacks towards the south of Cabo Delgado forced thousands of people to abandon their villages, mainly in Chiùre, but the authorities say there are improvements, with the number of those displaced falling from 67,000 to 45,000, according to Prime Minister Adriano Maleiane.

“Right now, the priority is to accommodate people. This is what is being done. It was turning out to be a very big exercise, in one fell swoop, welcoming people. Some people are in schools, others in tents, but we have to give them something to feed themselves,” Adriano Maleiane told the media today in Maputo.

The people who fled in this new wave of attacks are mainly residents of Mazeze, Chiúre-Velho, Mahipa, Alaca, Nacoja B and Nacussa, mostly points in the interior of Chiùre, where thousands of people abandoned their villages, travelling kilometres along National Road No.1 (EN1) towards the headquarters of Chiùre or crossing the Lúrio river to the district of Eráti in neighbouring Nampula province.

Cabo Delgado province has been facing an armed insurgency for six years, with some attacks claimed by the extremist Islamic State group.

The insurgency has led to a military response since July 2021, with the support of Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), liberating districts near natural gas projects, but renewed attacks have taken place in the south of the region.

The conflict has already displaced one million people, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and killed around 4,000, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED).

Source: Lusa