Renewed violence in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado displaces over 100,000

More than 100,000 people have been displaced in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province in the latest wave of violence, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis that had forced over 1.3 million people out of their homes in the conflict, Al Jazeera reported.

“The province’s entire population is on the move as previously secure communities are emptying as well,” Al Jazeera quoted a resident of one such previously safe village as saying.

In December alone, the United Nations said over 100,000 people were displaced, according to Reuters.

Since the conflict erupted in October 2017, the government, aided by Rwandan forces, has been engaged in a protracted fight against Islamic State-linked militants in Cabo Delgado, which is home to rich natural gas deposits.

The attacks across all 17 districts of the province are, for the first time, spreading displacement. International organizations on Friday called for a peaceful resolution to the crisis, saying it was threatening to turn Mozambique, historically a relatively peaceful nation, into another Africa-wide conflict zone.

“The spread of this violence is extremely concerning because it places even greater pressure on a humanitarian system that is already stretched thin,” said the country director for Save the Children in Mozambique. “Every district is now affected, bringing even more trauma and desperation.”

The fighting has periodically disrupted production from multibillion-dollar gas facilities built in Cabo Delgado by global majors like TotalEnergies, whose security has been a concern for the Mozambican government and its international partners.