“If they knew I was a government official, they would have beheaded me,” a civil servant in northern Mozambique, who goes by the name Tomas Langa for safety reasons, told the BBC.
Langa recounted how he narrowly escaped a group of armed men who targeted government buildings and positions in his town of Macomia in the insurgency-hit Cabo Delgado province.
After being woken by heavy gunfire in the early hours of 10 May, Langa ran into the countryside and hid for three days, surviving on cassava plants.
He described how the gunmen, linked to the Islamic State (IS) group, kept the area under siege for two days, instilling fear and chaos among the residents.
Another resident, Alfane Silva, shared his harrowing experience of being detained and threatened by armed militants, who eventually left before government reinforcements arrived.
The violence in the region has led to more than 700 people fleeing, leaving those who remain, like Silva and Langa, living in constant fear without access to essential services.
The situation worsened with the announcement that the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) mission, comprising soldiers from multiple countries, would withdraw its forces from Mozambique by 15 July.
Regional security experts have expressed concerns about the premature withdrawal, as the area remains unstable, prompting countries like Rwanda to send additional troops to support efforts in northern Mozambique.
The insurgent group, known as al-Shabab in Mozambique, has been active in Cabo Delgado since 2017, causing death, displacement, and destruction in their quest for control over the resource-rich region.
While efforts were made to restore stability in the region, recent attacks have once again escalated, leading to further displacement and insecurity for the local population.
Neighbouring countries are also on high alert, with Tanzania taking measures to enhance security along its border with Mozambique following previous attacks on villages in 2020.
The ongoing violence in northern Mozambique continues to pose a significant challenge, with concerns about the impact on the region’s stability and security.
El presupuesto de defensa de Tanzania ha aumentado un 10% cada año desde 2021.
Mientras tanto, existen crecientes preocupaciones de que si la insurgencia de Cabo Delgado gana más impulso, otros países vecinos, como Malawi, podrían verse afectados si los insurgentes cruzan la frontera, según la analista Meron Elias.
Ella dijo que había algunas pruebas de que se están desarrollando vínculos regionales entre al-Shabab en Mozambique y las Fuerzas de Defensa Aliadas, una filial de ISIS que opera en la RDC y partes de Uganda, aunque el nivel de cooperación no está claro.
Expertos en seguridad regional dicen que las fuerzas armadas de Mozambique podrían asegurar una victoria militar si se fortalecieran más, y este no es el momento para retirar tropas extranjeras.
Pero la única solución a largo plazo es abordar los desafíos sociales y económicos experimentados en el norte del país, donde los niveles de vida son más bajos que en el sur, alimentando quejas de discriminación, que son explotadas por los yihadistas.
Más historias de la BBC sobre Mozambique:
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