More than 5,000 families displaced from Mueda after attacks

A total of 5,960 families were taken in to the Mueda district of Cabo Delgado following recent attacks in the Mocímboa da Praia and Palma districts in northern Mozambique, an official source said today. "We received approximately 5,960 families, corresponding to 13,986 people, including 6,300 children who are in four resettlement centers here in the town of Mueda: Lyanda, Mpeme, Eduardo Mondlane, and Nandimba," said Assamo Omar, Mueda's permanent secretary, speaking to reporters.

Mueda authorities expressed concern about the more than 6,000 displaced children, stating that they are seeking support so that they are not left out of final school assessments.

"We also need special treatment, considering the approaching school exam period. Therefore, we must make every effort to accommodate these same children so they have the opportunity to take their final exams in 2025," the official said. In response to the new wave of displaced people, the district government held a coordination meeting with partners to define humanitarian assistance priorities.

"Together with our partners, we held a coordination meeting to help us anticipate what's needed, especially shelter, food assistance, and water and sanitation," said Assamo Omar, calling for more support to "minimize the suffering" of victims of rebel attacks.

Between September 22 and October 13, the “escalation of attacks and insecurity caused by armed groups” led to “new displacements” – a total of 92,792 people, equivalent to 25,476 families – essentially in the districts of Balama, Mocímboa da Praia, Montepuez and Chiúre, Cabo Delgado, but also in Memba, Nampula province, according to the most recent field report from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), consulted by Lusa.

At least 462 people have been convicted for involvement in the terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado, with 918 criminal cases open, the Central Office for Combating Organized and Transnational Crime (GCCCOT) said.

The gas-rich province of Cabo Delgado in northern Mozambique has been the target of terrorist attacks for eight years, with the first attack recorded on October 5, 2017, in the Mocímboa da Praia district.

Eight years after that first attack, the Government stated this month that it continues to make efforts to guarantee the safety of the populations and property so that these communities can remain in their places of origin in peace.

This month, Mozambique's President Daniel Chapo called the terrorist attacks in the north of the country "barbaric acts" and against "human dignity."

The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) counts 6,257 deaths eight years after the terrorist attacks, warning of the current instability, with the resurgence of violence.

"The situation is quite unstable. In September, the [extremist group] Islamic State of Mozambique (ISM) was active in 11 districts of Cabo Delgado and also crossed into Nampula at the end of the month," Peter Bofin, a researcher at ACLED, told Lusa.