Armed groups believed to be terrorists have launched another wave of violence in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, torching at least two churches and 95 homes, police said.
The attacks took place in the communities of Nkole and Ngura, located in the Ancuabe district, according to police spokesperson Orlando Modumane. He told Anadolu Agency that the assailants struck on Sunday and returned the following day, targeting residents in daylight hours with guns and machetes.
“They invaded the two communities in broad daylight, armed with guns and machetes, and after setting ablaze the two churches and the 95 houses, they fled with 15 motorbikes belonging to the residents,” Modumane said. “There has been no record of deaths among the communities, but a lot of them had to flee for safety.”
No group has officially claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Cabo Delgado, a region rich in natural gas reserves, has been grappling with a violent insurgency since 2017. The conflict has displaced thousands of people, many of them women and children. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), around 10,000 people have been uprooted from their homes since the crisis began.
A 2024 report from the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies, an academic institution affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense, recorded at least 349 deaths linked to the ongoing violence in the region last year alone.
The latest incident adds to the growing insecurity in the northern province, where communities continue to face the threat of armed attacks and displacement.