Insurgency grows ahead of TotalEnergies' return

JIHADIST insurgents in northern Mozambique have multiplied their attacks in the past weeks, causing mass displacements ahead of the possible resumption of construction on TotalEnergies’ huge natural gas project in the region.

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A group affiliated with the Islamic State group, which has led a bloody insurgency in Cabo Delgado province since 2017, claimed responsibility for seven attacks in the south of the province in late July, including one in which they executed six villagers.

Nearly 59 000 people were displaced to the small district of Chiure alone, said Sebastian Traficante, who heads the local mission of Doctors Without Borders.

The region had not seen so many people forced to leave since February 2024, according to UN statistics.

“There hasn’t been a mass displacement like this for many months now, so it was a bit of a surprise,” Traficante said from a transit camp set up in the small town in the south of Cabo Delgado, where shelter was initially insufficient to host the “massive” influx of people, most fleeing on foot.

“There were some people even sleeping under the open sky”, toilet facilities were insufficient and “there was no food available”, he said.