Maputo, 5 Mar (AIM) – The number of victims of terrorism in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, who are being assisted by Mozambique’s relief agency, the National Disaster Management Institute (INGD), has fallen from 67,000 to 45,000.
According to Prime Minister, Adriano Maleiane, who released the figures on Monday, in Maputo, some of the victims of terrorism who fled to Eráti district, in the neighbouring province of Nampula, have already returned to Chiúre, in the south of Cabo Delgado.
“Initially, we had around 67,000 people. Now there are around 45,000 to 47,000, which means that the number has started to reduce. It means that they are either returning to their area of origin or have moved to another district”, he said.
According to Maleiane, the number of victims in Eráti district has dropped to around 45,000, due to the fact that many families have decided to return to Chiúre.
The Minister explained that the government’s current concern is to provide food and accommodation for the displaced people.
“The priority is to accommodate people, and that is what is being done. It was, and is, a very big exercise. Some are in schools and others in tents. We have to give them at least something to eat”, he said.
The Prime Minister was speaking this Monday in his office on the sidelines of a meeting with sportspeople.
Cabo Delgado is rich in natural gas and many other minerals, but has been plagued by terrorist attacks since 2017 perpetrated by jihadist groups causing the deaths of over 3,000 people, most of them civilians.
In its last report on Mozambique, the United Nations Refugee Agency says that nearly a million people have fled their homes over the last five years in Cabo Delgado as a result of the violence.
(AIM)
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