The administrator of the district of Eráti, in the Mozambican province of Nampula, the scene of an armed attack on Friday, said on Tuesday that people fleeing from Kútua, on the south bank of the Lúrio river, continue to “multiply” on the border with Cape Thin. .
The movement of displaced people continues. It is multiplying, we are in a crisis situation”, said Manuel Manusso.
Manusso said that people seek refuge in the main village of the district, Namapa, where they are received by relatives, local leaders and the general population.
That official did not specify the number of people who have left Kútua, the attacked town, and noted that the communities are “disturbed.”
Cabo Slim. “The return of the displaced will be complicated. Finding what you don’t have can be worse than not coming back.”
The Eráti administrator noted that the district was already hosting displaced people forced to flee Cabo Delgado province since the start of the armed attacks in October 2017.
We have been receiving this wave of displaced people, because some of them have been here for two or three years,” emphasized Manuel Manusso.
Manusso said that the Defense and Security Forces are on the ground to try to restore security and allow the return of the populations.
The police spokesman in Nampula, Zacarias Nacute, told Lusa on Monday that the attack on Eráti could have been carried out by the same armed groups that terrorize Cabo Delgado.
“There is the possibility of a terrorist attack carried out by this group of individuals who are in the province of Cabo Delgado,” said Nacute.
This is the second time that the neighboring provinces of Cabo Delgado have been the target of attacks similar to those that have occurred there, and where it is not clear who is the protagonist of the violence.
In December 2021 there was the same suspicion about attacks in areas of the Niassa province that border Cabo Delgado.
Cabo Delgado after the reconquest of Mocímboa da Praia: the evolution of the conflict and the possibility of negotiating with the insurgents
Cabo Delgado province is rich in natural gas but has been terrorized since 2017 by armed violence, with some attacks claimed by the Islamic State extremist group.
The insurgency sparked a military response a year ago by Rwandan forces and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), liberating districts close to gas projects but prompting a new wave of attacks in other areas to the south. , closest to Pemba. , provincial capital.
There are some 800,000 internally displaced persons due to the conflict, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and some 4,000 dead, according to the ACLED conflict registration project.
It is estimated that half of the affected population are children and young people up to 20 years old, reflecting the age pyramid of the country.
Source: Observadora
