The armed conflict in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, will again be on debate at the parliament in Maputo today, with the analysis of a report on the human rights situation in the province.
Today’s agenda also includes the vote on a resolution about the topic, at a time when the conflict has been the subject of international attention due to reports of massacres committed by rebels, victimizing hundreds of people in the last week, part of which allegedly by beheading the victims.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Wednesday he was “shocked” by the “recent reports of massacres perpetrated by non-state armed groups in several villages in the province of Cabo Delgado, in northern Mozambique, including beheading and abduction of women and children ”.
Mozambican authorities have yet to comment on this latest episode of the conflict, which is now returning to parliament.
The report that the deputies are going to debate, consulted last week by Lusa, was produced by a parliamentary committee that heard the Mozambican Defense and Security Forces (SDS) describe the situation as “serious”, pointing out that the port and the airport of the village Mocímboa da Praia remain in the hands of armed groups.
On the other hand, the document points out that it is necessary to “reinforce the training processes of the Defense and Security Forces, focusing on matters related to human rights”.
Armed violence is causing a humanitarian crisis with about 2,000 deaths and 435,000 people displaced to neighboring provinces, without enough housing or food – mainly concentrated in the provincial capital, Pemba.
