Nampula, Mozambique, Oct. 20, 2025 (Lusa) - The Mozambican authorities have counted 370 houses destroyed in Nampula in the terrorist attacks earlier this month, which left at least one dead and "many injured" among the insurgents, the governor of that province, Eduardo Abdula, said today.
"They burnt about 370 houses, approximately 370 houses. That's the number I've retained, about 370. And today we're loading goods, we're lifting goods. I'm going to see if we can get at least one lorry together today for the displaced people in Chipene and Lúrio," the governor told reporters after a visit of several days to the villages attacked in Memba district, northern Mozambique.
The local authorities initially estimated that 45 houses were destroyed in the attacks in Memba on 1 October, a figure that later rose to 51, with the confirmation of a young man who was slashed by the rebels.
Eduardo Abdula acknowledged today that the prompt response of the Defence and Security Forces (FDS) made it possible to repel the attack, causing "many wounded" among the insurgents, who are said to have returned to their places of origin in Cabo Delgado.
"Security isn't bad, but it's not good either. We must always be on the alert. It's important, once again I ask, I asked in Memba, for communities to be vigilant and to denounce," said the governor of Nampula province.
Abdula also recognised the need to invest in equipment for the FDS, particularly in Memba, a district neighbouring Cabo Delgado province, which has been the scene of these terrorist groups' activities for eight years.
"I'm sending a police car in the next few days. The district is without a car at the moment. I'm sending a new car that I'm taking from my personal escort, which will reinforce the district police station so that our colleagues can have easier mobility," concluded the governor.
Almost 93,000 people have fled Cabo Delgado and Nampula since the end of September due to the upsurge in terrorist attacks in northern Mozambique, doubling the number of displaced people in just a few days, according to previous figures from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
On 6 October, the president of Mozambique, Daniel Chapo, called the terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado "barbaric acts" and against "human dignity".
The gas-rich northern province of Mozambique has been the target of terrorist attacks for eight years, with the first attack recorded on 5 October 2017 in the district of Mocímboa da Praia.
The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) counts 6,257 dead after eight years of terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado, warning of the current instability, with an upsurge in violence.
PVJ/ADB // ADB.
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