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It was on Wednesday a week ago that an extreme jihadist group with ties to IS attacked the city of Palma, which usually has 75,000 inhabitants.
An unknown number of people, but at least a dozen, were killed in the attack. Thousands of people fled on foot or by boat.
As of Tuesday afternoon, 5,360 refugees had arrived in Nangade, Mueda, Montepuez and Pemba districts. The number of internally displaced persons is increasing at a rapid rate, said Sandra Black, spokeswoman for the UN migration agency, IOM, on Wednesday night.
Since then, at least 3,000 other refugees have reached safety.
Two boats with more than 1,100 people on the run had docked in the provincial capital, Pemba, early Wednesday, but had not been allowed to get off by then. This is due to security procedures, according to Sandra Black.
Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi said in his first statement on Wednesday after the jihadist attack that the attack on Palma “is not the largest” and called for calm.
– Let’s not lose focus or be bothered by this. That we should lose concentration is the goal of our internal and external enemies, he says.
One mile from Palma, an extensive natural gas project is underway, involving the French oil giant Total and other international energy companies.
Extremists in northern Mozambique have terrorized the gas- and mineral-rich Cape Delgado for more than three years.
Last year, one of the most active extremist groups, Ansar al-Sunna, known locally as al-Shabaab (without any connection to the Somali group), pledged allegiance to the IS terrorist movement.
The movement affiliated with the Islamic State of Central Africa Province (ISCAP) is also active in the region.
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