Terrorist incursions into the Chiúre district of northern Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province have displaced thousands of people, with a local Islamic State-affiliated group claiming responsibility for an early attack on a police station, the Portuguese news agency Lusa reports.
Members of the Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jamaah (ASWJ) group said they carried out the Thursday attack on Chiúre Velho police, sharing video of the incident on Islamic State propaganda channels. What appears to be fire bursts of machine gun fire precede the rebels entering the station. They took materials after burning a vehicle and “freeing Muslim prisoners.”
No victims or injuries have been reported. However, Valige Tauabo, governor of Cabo Delgado Province, confirmed to Lusa on Friday that rebels had attacked the district and prompted residents of two towns to leave, emphasising that security forces were working to restore order.
A count taken on Saturday revealed 11,980 people had been displaced from the district, according to the newspaper Carta de Moçambique. Authorities promised that basic food items would be provided to the displaced, as terrorists reportedly continued to circulate in some areas of Chiúre district.
[See more: Abductions of children by Islamist insurgents are on the rise in northern Mozambique]
Locals also reported seeing armed men on Sunday afternoon in villages in the Ocua administrative post, prompting many families to abandon their villages to take refuge in the district headquarters. According to witnesses and local authorities, homes, a health centre and the local police post were razed.
“Practically all [the villages] were affected. We’re talking about hundreds of families,” the Chiúre district administrator, Oliveira Amimo, told Lusa.
The European Union’s humanitarian arm ECHO warned Monday that Cabo Delgado had “experienced a surge in violence that significantly impacted civilian safety and access to essential services” in the seven-day period beginning 20 July.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) meanwhile estimates that nearly 27,000 people have been displaced by attacks on three different areas during that period. Most, an estimated 23,204, are from the Chiúre attack, with another 1,993 in the northern Muidumbe district and 1,673 in central Ancuabe district. There are also signs that more people will be fleeing their homes soon amid the still-uncertain security situation.
