For quite some time, the African continent has been struggling to curb insurgencies. Unfortunately, of late, there has been a resurgent in the attacks on the continent. Mozambique’s northern province happens to be among the states which have reported cases of militia attacks. According to an aid agency in Mozambique, 11 children fallen victims to the rebels. The agency revealed that the insurgents beheaded the children, leaving them for the dead.
It’s been over three years, and the young militia groups, locally known as al-Shabaab, have been staging attacks in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado, sowing terror and corrupting security. The militia hotspot, Cabo Delgado, is on the border between Tanzania and Mozambique and is rich in natural gas.
The United Nations reports that over 2600 people have died during the conflict while over 670000 people fled their homes. Save the Children agency has helped homeless women and children through difficult times, providing them with humanitarian aid and protection.
The Atrocity
In an interview with Africanews, one of the women narrates how her child fell victim to the militia attacks. The woman starts by saying that it was a certain night when everything went bleak for her. She was home together with her four children when armed rebels stormed in their village, looting, firing live bullets, and burning houses.
While escaping towards the woods, the rebels got hold of her eldest son. As she was hiding with her three children, they watched the inhumane men behead her son. It was a difficult moment for her, but there was nothing she could do. Instead, she watched her helpless son die in pain.
“That night, our village was raided, and houses were torched. When it all started, I was in the house with my four children,” the mother said.
“We attempted to escape to the woods, but they took my eldest son and beheaded him. We couldn’t do anything because we would be killed too.”
After witnessing her son’s death, she understood that the village was no longer safe for her and the children. They then moved to her father’s house in another village. However, it was not long before the rebels paid them another visit.
Violence Must Stop
The unending conflicts in Mozambique are sickening. Many have fallen victims, and the situation keeps deteriorating. Displaced families are having a difficult time coping with the trauma and rebuilding their lives.
They are in dire need of humanitarian and mental support. On Monday, the United States Embassy based in Maputo announced that the United States would deploy its special force to train the Mozambican marines who would fight against Cabo Delgado’s jihadists.
Around December last year, the rebels launched an attack a few kilometers from a multi-billion gas project in Mozambique operated by a French gas company. Since the incident, attacks in the region have reduced following the increased military response. However, some innocent militia lost their lives amid the campaigns against the militia.
On March 2nd, the NGO Amnesty International accused the Mozambican forces and mercenaries of war crimes of indiscriminately killing civilians. Though the army dismissed the claims, some witnesses hold them accountable. The state should be careful not to harm its citizens while fighting the terrorists, for, in the long run, it’s the citizens who make up a nation.
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