Maputo, June 17, 2025 (Lusa) - The United Nations warns that May saw the sharpest increase in armed violence in the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado since June 2022, affecting more than 134,000 people in 61 security incidents.
According to a report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), of the 61 security incidents resulting from the escalation of violence in that northern province of Mozambique, 38 involved attacks on civilians.
“Confirmed victims include ten murders, some beheadings and at least 45 abductions, mainly of children,” the document states.
The gas-rich province of Cabo Delgado, in the north of the country, has been facing an armed rebellion since 2017, which has left thousands dead and caused a humanitarian crisis with more than a million people displaced.
The new movements of extremists in northern Mozambique include Niassa, a province neighbouring Cabo Delgado, where, since their outbreak on April 29, they have caused at least two deaths: two game reserve forest rangers were beheaded.
According to the UN agency, “the sharpest increase in violence” in May was mainly concentrated in the districts of Mocímboa da Praia, Muidumbe, Macomia, Ancuabe, Montepuez and Palma, spreading to Mecula in Niassa province, where around 2,000 people fled their villages.
“The increased use of improvised explosive devices further endangered civilians, with three incidents reported in May - one injuring a man in Quiterajo (May 19) and another injuring several civilians, including children, in Nangade (May 23),” it said.
According to OCHA, insecurity has “disrupted” essential services, forcing mobile health teams to suspend operations and schools to close in the districts of Ancuabe, Montepuez and Nangade.
While attacks by armed groups increase in Cabo Delgado, the UN agency also warns that tensions between internally displaced persons and host communities have worsened.
“In Muidumbe, local leaders, following orders from local authorities, denied registration to 1,242 newly arrived internally displaced persons (IDPs) — including 472 children — while the Local Force militia was instructed to repel displaced people by force,” the report explains, stressing that community “frustration” has exacerbated operational challenges.
Increased social tensions, stemming from public dissatisfaction with aid distribution, led to the looting of food supplies and humanitarian trucks in Chiúre and Mocímboa da Praia, according to the document.
“On 29 May, an international NGO suspended food distribution in Macomia, relocating two international staff members to Pemba due to increased threats,” the text adds.
In 2024 alone, at least 349 people died in attacks by Islamic extremist groups in northern Mozambique, an increase of 36% over the previous year, according to a study released by the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies (ACSS), an academic institution of the US Department of Defence.
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