Maputo, 27 Mar (AIM) – Terrorist groups are apparently stepping up their presence in the coastal regions of Macomia district, in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado.
According to the independent newssheet “Carta de Moçambique”, over 20 men were seen by the local population walking around the villages of Ningaia, Manica and Rueia, in the administrative post of Mucojo.
“The population of these areas was not violated; on the contrary, the terrorists held friendly talks, appealing to them not to be afraid of them and to continue to do their activities normally”, according to a local source, cited by the newssheet.
According to the sources, the group was headed by a prominent terrorist commander, named as Mahamudo Saha. He is one of the main proponents of radical Islam in Macomia and in particular in the administrative post of Mucojo, specifically in Rueia, where he was born.
Recently, several households, mostly dependent on fishing, who returned without authorization from the authorities to the Pangane administrative post, were forced to attend a meeting by a group of terrorists who invaded that region, demanding that the local population follow the Quran.
Since July 2021, the Mozambican Defence and Security Forces have been working with the support of a military contingent from the Rwandan Defence Force and the Southern African Development Community Military Mission (SAMIM) to fight terrorism in Cabo Delgado.
Meanwhile, the population of Palma district, in the far north of Cabo Delgado, where liquefied natural gas projects are planned, remains in an extremely precarious situation.
According a report unveiled on Monday by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the region still faces heavy poverty “despite improved security conditions.”
“The security situation in Palma has improved since the attacks two years ago, but the population remains in extremely precarious protection and living conditions”, reads the statement. Nonetheless, the UNHCR adds that, since the expulsion of the terrorists from Palma town, “more than 70,000 people have returned to their homes and 10,000 internally displaced persons have found shelter in cities in other areas.”
The attacks in Palma district led to the suspension of construction work on the gas liquefaction industrial complex, Africa’s largest private project, which will cost about 20 billion Euros.
UNHCR data, collected in interviews with 7,425 families in Palma, concluded that “the most pressing needs are access to civil documentation and livelihoods. At the same time, 70% of those interviewed reported having no access to shelter, 64% said they had no food, and 43% complained of having no water and sanitation services”.
Until this month, UNHCR operations in Mozambique had been funded at only 18 percent of a total of 47.4 million dollars needed to provide protection and assistance to those in need.”
“UNHCR is working closely with a range of actors, including the Government, to provide urgent protection and assistance services to displaced people and their host communities”, the document said.
On Thursday, at an event also marking two years since the attack on Palma, the NGO Doctors without Borders (MSF) noted that Cabo Delgado province “is far from stability” and that fear and humanitarian needs have even worsened in some districts, despite improvement near the gas projects.
(AIM)
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