The United Nations (UN) has warned that the situation in northern Mozambique continued to deteriorate sharply as a result of prolonged non-state groups triggering one of the largest displacement surges of the year.
The Office for Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs says 107 000 people had fled their homes in recent weeks, pushing total displacement to around 330 000 in just the last four months.
Attacks by armed insurgent groups in the region have increased this year, spreading to beyond the Cabo Delgado region to the provinces of Nampula and Niassa.
UN agencies have expressed grave concerns amid intensifying attacks on villages and the rapid spillover of the fighting into regions previously deemed safe, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee across northern Mozambique.
According to reports, people reaching safe harbour say they escaped as armed groups stormed their villages, often at night, burning homes, attacking civilians and forcing families to make a run for it, leaving all their possessions behind.
For many this is the second or third time they have been displaced.
–SABC–
