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Approximately 300,000 people displaced in northern Mozambique: UN
The UN says it is "gravely concerned" at the number of civilians fleeing violence in northern Mozambique, where it says around 300,000 people have been displaced in recent months.
Approximately 300,000 people displaced in northern Mozambique: UN
The UN says approximately 300,000 people have recently been displaced by insecurity in northern Mozambique. / Reuters
40 minutes ago

The UN said on Tuesday it was "gravely concerned" at the number of civilians fleeing violence in northern Mozambique, where it says around 300,000 people have been displaced in recent months.

Terrorism in the Cabo Delgado province has caused the deaths of over 6,200, according to the Global conflict monitoring group ACLED. Terrorism has also spilled into the neighbouring Nampula province.

On Tuesday, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said terrorism had pushed almost 100,000 people to flee the region over the past two weeks alone.

And in the last three months, "a minimum of 287,000" people have fled, according to UNHCR representative Xavier Creach.

There could be more

"I would say this figure is only the people who have been registered," he told reporters in Geneva, adding that "many more" individual cases have gone unrecorded.

"I think we can talk approximately of a minimum of 300,000 displaced over there since July," he said.

Since then, the agency has observed "intensifying attacks on villages and the rapid spillover of the violence into previously safe districts", making the provision of humanitarian aid more difficult.

Creach described "very challenging needs" in the region.

Urges international aid

"Humanitarian actors collectively... cannot sustain the response without additional support and resources," UNHCR said in a statement, calling for "urgent international support."

Since the current violence erupted in 2017, more than 1.3 million people in Mozambique have been displaced, according to the agency.

SOURCE:AFP