An armed attack against public transport on a highway in Cabo Delgado, in northern Mozambique, killed a Doctors Without Borders driver this Saturday, the humanitarian organization announced in a statement and relatives of the passengers informed Lusa.
“During an attack on the road between Macomia and Pemba, near Mitambo, an MSF employee was injured when he was traveling on his day off by public transport to visit his family in Pemba,” the humanitarian organization described.
It was the second attack of this type, in the same area of national route 380 (EN 380, one of the main routes in the region), in three days.
The victim would finally pass away “a few hours later, while receiving medical attention, leaving behind his wife and five children,” he added.
The armed attack with shooting and the looting of goods culminated in two transport vehicles being burned and at least two more people injured, relatives of the passengers told Lusa.
Some survivors fled on foot to nearby towns.
“I already confirmed [o ataque] with relatives [na aldeia 19 de Outubro] but I am not calm because the bad relatives left Macomia for Pemba and I have not heard from them”, lamented a 69-year-old woman from Macomia.
Federica Nogarotto, head of the MSF mission in Mozambique, mourned the death and highlighted the risks faced by anyone who provides support to the population in northern Mozambique.
“Today we are in mourning. We lost a colleague who, like all employees, was totally committed to helping displaced families, often facing significant risks,” he said.
The organization says it is “alarmed by the ongoing violence in northern Mozambique” and by “indiscriminate attacks that regularly kill and injure civilians in Cabo Delgado.”
On Wednesday, an armed group killed at least two people (sources at the scene indicate, without specifying, that the number should be higher) and injured others in the same area, in another attack against vehicles that included public transport. , sources reported. .locations.
The incursions come at a time when Mozambican forces have launched Operation Vulcão IV, which covers part of the Macomia and Muidumbe districts, with the aim of eliminating rebel hideouts.
Doctors Without Borders has been carrying out activities in Cabo Delgado since 2019, including primary health care, mental health and psychosocial support, and distribution of essential goods.
The province of Cabo Delgado has been facing an armed insurgency for five years, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.
The insurgency has provoked a military response since July 2021 with support from Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), liberating districts next to gas projects, but new waves of attacks have emerged in the south of the region and in the neighboring province of Nampula.
The conflict has already displaced a million people, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and around 4,000 deaths, according to ACLED’s conflict registry project.
Source: TSF
