Displaying items by tag: Cabo Delgado

In northern Mozambique, communities are facing renewed violence as Islamist insurgents linked to IS reassert control in vulnerable areas. Armed groups have openly entered villages, spreading fear and targeting civilians. The gas-rich northern Cabo Delgado region has been ravaged by eight years of killing and land grabs, causing widespread displacement and suffering. The decision by Donald Trump to halt USAID, including cuts to development and humanitarian programmes, has left communities with fewer resources, increasing poverty and making young people more vulnerable to recruitment. Hospitals, food distribution, and local livelihood projects have all been affected, deepening hardship for families already struggling to survive. IS confidence has been re-energised, as shown by attacks in September when dozens of men, mostly Christians, were beheaded. Despite the region’s significant natural gas potential, insecurity continues to hinder development, leaving many caught between violence, displacement, and economic uncertainty.

On 30 July Islamist militants beheaded two Christian men during an attack on a minibus in northern Mozambique in Cabo Delgado. IS of Mozambique, known locally as al-Shabaab, claimed responsibility for the killings: its statement declared, ‘By the grace of God Almighty, the soldiers of the Caliphate killed two Christians, beheading them, and shooting them with weapons.’ In June IS beheaded several Christians in Cabo Delgado, and another during a raid on a Christian village in Nampula. Cabo Delgado is called ‘the Land of Fear’ owing to persistent brutal violence meted out against both Christians and moderate Muslims over several years. Pray that the Lord will comfort the family and friends of the Christians so brutally murdered. Ask that the violence perpetrated against Christians and moderate Muslims by IS militants will come to an end, that the LORD will rescue His people from their powerful enemy, from their foes who confront them.

After almost a week of walking and sleeping rough, three young men arrived at Nacaca, a displacement camp in Cabo Delgado province. They fled as far as they could get from the gunmen who attacked their village. A jihadist conflict has shaken Cabo Delgado for five years; al-Shabab has routed an under-equipped army, decapitated civilians, abducted young men, and enslaved women. Last June a coalition of southern African countries scattered the insurgents, but now al-Shabaab units are re-terrorising communities. They have depopulated northern Cabo Delgado, with at least 730,000 people (1/3rd of the population) fleeing to safer southern districts. The uprising began in 2017 but its origins go deeper, growing out of fury over state corruption and opposition to establishment Islam. The displaced are settling in a poor region. The chance of these former farmers and fishermen finding work are slim. The World Food Programme is only able to deliver half rations to camps and registered displaced living in communities.