Insurgents in Mozambique’s northern region continue to capture numerous villages in the region. Last year the violence in the region escalated, creating a national crisis along with a humanitarian tragedy. Cabo Delgado, Mozambique’s northernmost province, was the most affected by the conflict.
Conflict in Mozambique’s Northern region
According to a U.S-based data collecting agency, the insurgency in northern Mozambique has killed 2,600 people. Half of those who have lost their lives are civilians. Also, hundreds of thousands of others have ended up fleeing the conflict in the north. Residents escaping the fighting have said they believe the insurgents will continue to cause havoc for a long time. The locals say this because the militants have learned to penetrate Cabo Delgado by sea and cross the border with Tanzania. It’s because of such tactics that the government has had a hard time exterminating them. Some observers speculate that those causing the conflict to the north are Tanzanian nationals.
Cabo Delgado in northern Mozambique houses numerous gas developments worth some $60 billion. Experts on the conflict believe the conflict exists in the region because it is beyond religion and has some economic aspects. According to experts, the militants aim to control the gas-rich Cabo Delgado and take ownership of oil and gas company’s investment projects in the area. Because of this mission, the jihadists gathered pace last year. The insurgents made it their goal to take on the Mozambican army and seize entire towns regularly.
The violence is worse this year as access to Cabo Delgado has been hampered. The insurgents have destroyed roads leading into Cabo Delgado and sought to raping and beheading residents, causing insecurity. Coupled with the recent flooding and cyclone, Kenneth, which struck the country Mozambique’s north, is set to collapse. A humanitarian crisis similar to the end of Mozambique’s 16-year civil war has presented itself in the region.
Humanitarian tragedy in Cabo Delgado
Some of those fleeing the north have made it to a safe camp in northern Mozambique. The camp only houses people displaced by the insurgent attacks. Some officials from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees make visits to the camp. The UNHCR officials report that the camp has at least 670,000 displaced persons.
Many of those who manage to reach the camp in northern Mozambique have been recounting the horrific stories of beheadings and rape in the region. Some say they fled the war-stricken area at night after the insurgents left. Most of those fleeing at night have to hide in bushes even for four days as they look for ways to run away from the conflict.
The UNHCR lament the Mozambican government and the international community’s slow response to help the displaced people. At the camp, the UNHCR say they have listened to tragedies of an almost unspeakable kind. Some women, for instance, taking care of other people’s children, have said the children were left to them as the mothers died during the conflict. One grandmother taking care of a child spoke to the UNHCR officials, telling them the child’s father was beheaded during the conflict.
The UNHCR has raised the alarm over the huge number of displaced people and children in northern Mozambique. Additionally, the UN body described the situation as desperate and appeals for more resources to assist the individuals. The official’s term what is happening in the north of Mozambique as a humanitarian tragedy.
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