Children and teenagers beheaded by Islamic militants in the province of Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique. He denounces it Save the Children in his latest report which collected the heartbreaking testimonies of the mothers of some boys murdered by terrorists linked to ISIS.
Since the start of the Islamist uprising in 2017, over 2,500 people have been killed and 700,000 have had to flee their villages. “These stories shocked us,” he told the Bbc the director of Save the Children in Mozambique, Chance Briggs. “This violence must stop, refugee families must be helped,” he said.
It is not the first time that reports have emerged of civilians being beheaded by Islamic militants in Mozambique. Last November, local media reported the news of more than 50 people beheaded on a soccer field in Cabo Delgado. Shocking is the story of a mother of a 12-year-old boy from Cabo Delgado reported on the website of Save The Children: «That night our village was attacked and the houses burned. When it all started, I was at home with my four children. We tried to escape into the woods but they took my oldest son and beheaded him. We couldn’t do anything because we too would have been killed ».
“Children as young as 11 are beheaded in the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado”, underlines the organization. For the action of the jihadists and the counter-offensive of the Mozambican security forces, at least 2,614 people died in the conflict, including 1,312 civilians, he specifies Save The Children relaunching the “Acled” data for the period October 2017-February 2021. “It has seriously worsened in the last 12 months, with an increase in attacks in the villages,” adds the site. The displaced people created by the conflict in the northeastern province of Cabo Delgado have increased sevenfold compared to a year ago, the humanitarian organization reports, recalling that the area is just recovering from a series of climate disasters including the 2019 Cyclone Kenneth and the floods in early 2020.
In April last year, dozens of civilians were killed in an attack on a village. Human rights groups have also accused the security forces of abuse, torture and murder in operations against jihadists.
Yesterday, US Embassy officials in Maputo announced that US troops will train Mozambican soldiers and provide medical and communications equipment for the next two months.