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More than 17,000 people forced to flee after attacks in Cabo Delgado last week

More than 17,000 people forced to flee after attacks in Cabo Delgado last week

Over 17,000 people, mainly women and children, have been forced to flee their homes in the Ancuabe and Chiure districts of Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province following attacks last week, the UN said.

At a press conference on Thursday, the secretary-general’s spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, gave a brief update on the situation in Mozambique following the attacks the previous week, indicating that humanitarian organisations have so far helped over 1,700 people, while the UN humanitarian air service continues to transport supplies.

According to Dujarric, since the beginning of the year the United Nations (UN), together with its partners, has managed to reach 100 000 people in Cabo Delgado, and food, education and hygiene ‘kits’ have been distributed to the local population.

“Our goal is to reach 84 000 people with regular humanitarian assistance in the districts of Ancuabe and Meluco. And once again, we remind all parties to the conflict that they must respect and protect civilians, as well as facilitate rapid, safe and unimpeded humanitarian assistance to civilians in need,” said António Guterres’ spokesperson at UN headquarters in New York.

“It is also critical that vulnerable people – including the elderly, people with disabilities, pregnant women and unaccompanied or separated children – are reached with food, shelter, protection and other urgent assistance as soon as possible,” he concluded.

The President of the Republic, Filipe Nyusi, said on Thursday that the rebel groups that have been terrorising Cabo Delgado are weakened and scattering, justifying the insurgents’ incursions into new points in the south of the province.

According to the Mozambican Head of State, the rebels terrorising the province since 2017 are fleeing to the south of Cabo Delgado looking for food, due to military operations being carried out by Mozambican forces, supported by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Rwanda.

Testimonies made to Lusa last week indicate at least eight deaths since 5 June in Ancuabe district, including of community leaders, some by decapitation, at a time when residents complain that several are still missing.

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In one of the attacks, security guards of a graphite mine, used globally in new batteries for electric cars, were shot dead while another company mining the same material suspended logistics operations along the province’s main road.

Cabo Delgado province is rich in natural gas but has been terrorised since 2017 by armed rebels, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State. There are 784,000 internally displaced people due to the conflict, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and around 4,000 deaths, according to the conflict registration project ACLED.

Since July 2021, an offensive by government troops with Rwandan support, later joined by the SADC, has allowed areas where rebels had been present to recover, but their flight has provoked new attacks in other districts used as passes or temporary refuge.

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