More than a week after the spectacular and deadly attack on the city of Palma in the province of Cabo Delgado, by a local group affiliated with the Islamic State, President Filipe Nyusi spoke on Friday, April 2, in commemoration of Good Friday. He trusts God as survivors in shock continue to pour into cities that are still under government control.
After first minimizing the size of the attack on Palma, the Mozambican president addressed his prayers to the victims on Friday, April 2: “May prayers and meditations bring peace to the Mozambicans. May this allow populations that are victims of terrorism today to put an end to pain and suffering. ”
During the attack on Palma, in addition to the 75,000 inhabitants of the port city, there were many displaced people, themselves already victims of attacks carried out on their villages. In one week, more than 8,000 people arrived in the surrounding districts
“People who arrive are traumatized, shocked! They had to leave their homes and witnessed extreme violence. They saw creatures killed as violently as possible. It is impossible to feel good. It is important that the international community goes further than talking about the subject, it must be able to help, ”begged Margarida Loureiro, director of the UNHCR office for Cabo Delgado. According to available figures, the security crisis in Cabo Delgado has left at least 2,000 dead and nearly 700,000 displaced.
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Mozambique refuses South African intervention
Sadec’s current president deplores a serious humanitarian crisis. The African Union calls for an urgent regional and international response.
The French group Total evacuated all personnel from its gas plant in northeastern Mozambique, nine days after the jihadist attack in the neighboring city of Palma, and the multi-billion euro project was in complete silence on Friday.
The United States and Portugal participate in the training of Mozambican special forces. South African President Cyril Ramaposa proposed direct intervention in Palma, refused by Maputo.
The terrorist group in question is a local unit called Al-Chabab (unrelated to the Somali group). He has been active since 2017 at Cabo Delgado and affiliated with the Islamic State since 2019.
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