🇲🇿 Over 46,000 Flee Fresh Attacks in Northern Mozambique, Aid Agencies Overwhelmed

 

Armed insurgents have intensified raids in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, displacing tens of thousands within a week and pushing humanitarian workers to the brink.

Zig Diaries Humanitarian
Date: Sunday, 4 August 2025
Time: 15:35 WAT
Location: 📍Pemba, Mozambique

UN confirms fresh mass displacement in northern Mozambique amid July insurgent attacks.

A surge in armed attacks in northern Mozambique has forced more than 46,000 people to flee their homes in the space of just eight days, the United Nations said, as the country’s long-running insurgency pushes humanitarian efforts to breaking point.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the latest wave of violence between 20 and 28 July displaced at least 46,667 people across the Chiúre, Ancuabe and Muidumbe districts in Cabo Delgado province.

“The humanitarian situation is deteriorating fast, and the displacement figures have spiked,” OCHA stated in its latest briefing. More than 95,000 people have been displaced since the start of 2025, and humanitarian access is increasingly fragile as armed groups continue targeting villages and roads.

The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) also noted a worrying increase in the number of unaccompanied or separated children. In just one week, the number of displaced households tripled to 444, encompassing nearly 1,950 individuals, over 1,200 of them children.

In Chiúre District, residents of Nanduli village fled to Chiote and Ancuabe Sede, while in Muidumbe District, fighters reportedly burned homes in Magaia and opened fire near Mungue, causing nearly 500 families to flee to displacement sites with limited access to aid.

Mozambique has been grappling with an Islamist insurgency in Cabo Delgado since 2017, with militants linked to the Islamic State group staging brutal attacks. In 2020, the insurgents shocked the world by beheading dozens, including children. Survivors and aid workers have recounted stories of child abductions, with some being forcibly recruited as fighters.

Despite support from regional troops — including Rwanda and South Africa — government forces have struggled to quell the violence, and the crisis continues to spill over into neighbouring provinces, displacing more than 600,000 people to date.

Aid agencies warn that unless access improves and more international support is mobilized, the region risks tipping into an even deeper humanitarian catastrophe.

 🏷️ Tags: Mozambique conflict, Cabo Delgado crisis, displacement, humanitarian response, UN OCHA

#CaboDelgado #MozambiqueCrisis #InternalDisplacement #AfricaSecurity #ZigHumanitarian