Authorities report that more than 70 children are missing following recent jihadist attacks in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province.
According to UN report, more than 60% of those displaced by the new wave of jihadist attacks are children, and 129 schools have been closed.
There are fears that some of them may have been abducted by militants linked to the Islamic State (IS) group.
The children were among those were fleeing over the last few weeks from Cabo Delgado’s Chiùre district to Nampula province
Officials say the children were lost in the panic as people fled; some have since been found, but 72 are still unaccounted for.
Recurring incidents of beheadings and abductions, including numerous child victims, persist in Cabo Delgado, a province abundant in natural gas resources.
The insurgency, initiated by the local al-Shabab militia affiliated with IS, has endured for seven years.
Regional forces have been assisting the military in combating the Islamist militant insurgency that commenced in 2017.
BBC
