Over 70 children are missing after jihadist attacks in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province, state authorities told the BBC on Tuesday.
Officials said that 72 children are still unaccounted for amid civilian panicked flight following jihadi violence, the BBC reported. Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi maintained that the jihadi intentionally targeted the area to kidnap children, the outlet noted. (RELATED: Video Shows Cops Rescuing Missing Girl With Autism From Swamp)
Mozambique jihadist attacks: Fears for 70 missing children https://t.co/KemeTqRIKZ
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) March 5, 2024
Authorities raised fears that some of the children were kidnapped by fighters tied to the Islamic State and that some may have been placed in training camps used by these organizations, the outlet noted. Mozambique has been experiencing an Islamist insurgency since 2017.
“More than 61,000 children have fled a new wave of violence in Cabo Delgado provinces in Mozambique in the past two months, the highest number uprooted in such a short period,” Save the Children claimed in a press release.
“The recent spate of conflict and attacks represents a major setback in efforts to rebuild the lives of children and families in Cabo Delgado. We are calling for an immediate end to this conflict so children can live a peaceful life and go back to school,” Save the Children’s Country Director Brechtje van Lith said in the press release.
“Displaced people often have been highly traumatised by the violence,” Esperança Chinhanja, a Doctors Without Borders psychologist, said in a press release by the organization. The organization estimated that over 80,000 persons were displaced since Jan. in their press release.