New Attacks Worsen Humanitarian Drama In Cabo Delgado

By Jorge Joaquim A string of new attacks by insurgents in Mozambican province Cabo Delgado is causing a wave of displaced people and further complicating a humanitarian crisis heightened by the interruption of World Food Program aid this month. The terrorist group has launched a series of attacks on villages in southern Cabo Delgado, part of which have been claimed by Islamic State, in addition to destroying several properties with fire, leaving many refugees in the bush and without food assistance in Meluco, Mueda and Montepuez. Issufo Momad, one of the leaders of a shelter camp in Ancuabe, a neighbouring district of Meluco, told VOA that dozens of displaced people have sought refuge in his camp following the new attacks, and in addition to insecurity they must now face hunger. On the other hand, Pan African Visions learned that fear by transporters of the road linking the districts of Montepuez, in the south and Mueda in the northern part of Cabo Delgado, continues to leave that stretch impassable since last Saturday, following a terrorist attack in the village of Namoro, administrative post of Nairoto, district of Montepuez. The stretch has been vital for the movement of goods and people from different parts of the province and the country, and was even used several times for the entry of imported vehicles to the cities of Montepuez, Pemba, and Nampula. The transporters say they are afraid of falling into ambushes, in view of reports indicating that insurgents continue in that area.