According to the latest report by the International Organisation for Migration, joint verification between the United Nations agency and local authorities “confirmed the displacement of 22,202 families,” totalling 107,784, between 16 and 30 November, who left the administrative posts of Mazua, Chipene and Lúrio, in the district of Memba.
According to the IOM’s field survey, this is due to “recent attacks by non-state armed groups in the district of Memba, Nampula province, between 10 and 17 November”. In the agency’s previous report, covering data from 11 to 25 November, 82,691 displaced persons were registered, mainly from the district of Memba to that of Eráti, both in Nampula.
The city of Nampula, Meconta, Metuge, Nacaroa, Chiure and Ilha de Moçambique, between the provinces of Nampula and Cabo Delgado, are currently some of the destinations for these displaced persons, who include around 1,600 pregnant women, 411 people with disabilities and 116 with chronic illnesses.
However, the main concentration points include Alua Sede (49,924 displaced persons), Miliva (16,838), Alua Velha Primary School (15,929), and Mecufi (13,978), with minors accounting for 65% (70,432) of the displaced population, according to the IOM.
“As the situation evolves, groups of people who have been displaced for more than two weeks continue to move between host communities and reception sites in search of safer conditions and essential services,” the organisation warned.
The report added that “vulnerable groups,” including “women, girls, the elderly, and persons with disabilities,” currently face “increased exposure to protection risks due to lack of privacy and restricted access to essential facilities,” including access to clean water or medical treatment.
The ACLED organisation estimates that the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado recorded 14 violent events between 10 and 23 November, involving Islamic State extremists and causing 12 deaths, and warned of the worsening situation in Nampula.
According to the latest report by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), of the 2,270 violent events recorded since October 2017, when the armed insurgency began in Cabo Delgado, 2,107 involved fighters associated with Islamic State Mozambique (EIM).
These attacks have caused 6,341 deaths in just over eight years, according to the new report, reported by Lusa on 28 November, including the 12 victims reported in those two weeks of November.
The report also addressed the movement of ISM members through the districts of Eráti and Memba, in the neighbouring province of Nampula, reporting that “by 21 November, they had already carried out 13 attacks against civilian communities in the two districts and killed at least 21 civilians”, moving in “at least three groups”.
“EIM activity in Nampula province reached its peak in November, with 16 events in the first three weeks of the month and the highest monthly death toll since the insurgency began. November is the third consecutive month in which EIM has been active in northern Nampula, marking the most sustained activity in the province since the insurgency began,” adds ACLED, assuming that these “repeated incursions” suggest that the group “may be seeking to strengthen existing links in the area, possibly with a view to reinforcing supply routes for recruits and goods.”
The gas-rich province of Cabo Delgado, also in northern Mozambique, has been the target of extremist attacks for eight years, with the first attack recorded on 5 October 2017 in the district of Mocímboa da Praia.
Platform with Lusa
