Aid to the Church in Need, October 21st, 2024 (excerpts)
A Mozambican bishop has given a harrowing account of the killings, mass displacement and hunger that have afflicted the country over the last seven years, since the outbreak of the ongoing Islamist insurgency.
The local community has faced “seven years of displacement; seven years of death; seven years during which people have lived with great suffering; of hunger, because they cannot farm their land due to insecurity; of disease, because there is no access to medication, or because the closest clinic has been destroyed.”
About 5,000 people have been killed and one million displaced as a result of the violent clashes between insurgents seeking to establish a hard-line Islamic state and the Mozambique Defence Armed Forces.
The fighting has been concentrated around Muslim-majority Cabo Delgado Province in northern Mozambique.
Extremist groups have tended to target civilian and state-owned institutions, but attacks focused on Christian communities have also been reported.
The bishop said: “The Church continues to do what is in its nature, to be with the people, to help those we can help, and to offer what aid we receive.”
ACN’s support in Mozambique has included emergency aid, pastoral assistance and counselling for displaced people, as well as vehicles for missionaries and the construction of homes and community centres.