More than one hundred and seven thousand people have been uprooted in Mozambique in the last two weeks as violence intensifies across the northern provinces, the United Nations humanitarian agency warned on Friday. The latest surge in attacks has stretched aid operations to breaking point, with food stocks and medical supplies running low.
Insurgent activity in northern Mozambique has risen sharply this year, expanding beyond the gas rich Cabo Delgado into the neighbouring provinces of Nampula and Niassa. What began as a localised conflict in 2017 has now displaced more than one million three hundred thousand people, according to United Nations figures. Entire communities have been forced to abandon their homes, often with little more than the clothes they are wearing.
“People flee because their villages are attacked and burned and destroyed, and others flee in surrounding villages for fear of attacks,” said Paola Emerson, Head of Office at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Mozambique. She spoke to reporters in Geneva by video link from Maputo, outlining the scale of the crisis.
United Nations officials say about one hundred and seven thousand people have fled Nampula city alone in recent days as violence has crept into areas previously thought to be safe. Over the last four months, a total of three hundred and thirty thousand people have been displaced across the region.
Emerson noted that the pattern of recent attacks marks a significant shift. “This latest wave that is taking place in Nampula is unusual, as we have seen reports of non state armed groups carrying out attacks for a couple of weeks, whereas in the past their movements were more in and out,” she said.
The renewed unrest has included fresh violence in the Palma District of Cabo Delgado, the first time since 2021 that the district has experienced sustained attacks. A report issued by the United Nations Children’s Fund on Tuesday detailed killings of civilians in multiple locations, along with targeted assaults on security forces.
Aid agencies say they are struggling to keep pace with the speed of displacement. OCHA warned that food and health kits are running out, leaving tens of thousands without basic support. Only about forty percent of newly displaced people have received enough food to last the next two weeks.
“But this is woefully inadequate,” Emerson said. She added that families are facing impossible decisions. Some have begun to return to unsafe areas because they are unable to access assistance where they have sought shelter.
“We are deeply concerned that lack of aid, combined with rising insecurity, is pushing people back into danger,” she said.
Humanitarian groups have appealed for additional funding and improved access to conflict zones as they brace for further displacement in the weeks ahead.
