Four Christians killed, villages razed in fresh attack in Mozambique
An estimated 128,000 people have had to flee the affected region, according to UN estimates.
At least four Christians were murdered by jihadists in northern Mozambique over the past days, in the latest wave of attacks of an insurgency which began in 2017.
Although the insurgency began in Cabo Delgado province, it also affects the province bordering Cabo Delgado to the south, Nampula, where the latest violence has taken place. The situation has been particularly dire in the district of Memba, near where Sr Maria de Coppi was martyred in September 2022, when her mission was attacked.
According to Bishop Alberto Vera of Nacala, whose diocese covers Nampula, several settlements have been attacked and hundreds of houses set on fire since 10 November. There are also reports of people being kidnapped, including women and children, by the terrorists, who claim allegiance to the Islamic State. “It was a week of terror and much suffering. Parents and their children had to flee to safer places. Thousands of families are suffering and trying to escape the terrorists, the situation is very confusing, and in some places most of the houses were burned, and people have been killed,” the bishop said in a message sent to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
“Terror is in the whole district of Memba and also in the north and east of the district of Eráti. Memba is a now deserted city,” he said.
In at least one of the villages, “four Christians were killed. One of them was beheaded,” the bishop adds. There are also reports of at least two chapels destroyed by the insurgents, the bishop stated.
According to estimates by the UN’s Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), around 128,000 people have fled the affected regions. The fear of new attacks and persistent insecurity continue to trigger new movements, says OCHA, which also highlights an outbreak of cholera which is also affecting Memba.
Bishop Vera says that “the Church is supporting those it can. We mostly need food, basic supplies for the neediest, especially women and children, and also for our priests. Please pray for us, because this is an incomprehensible and intolerable situation. We ask God to help us and grant us peace, and we ask the Mozambican government to fight the terrorists, not only with military means, but also through dialogue and international mediation.”
“Thank you and may the Lord bless you. Please pray hard for us, because we desperately need it,” says Bishop Alberto Vera in his message to ACN.
Mozambique was classified as a country of persecution in the 2025 Religious Freedom in the World Report, published in October. The situation in Cabo Delgado is the main factor of concern in the country of just over 32 million people.
Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has supported the Diocese of Nampula through various projects, including providing aid for internally displaced people, psychosocial support for traumatised communities, and denouncing illegal land occupations affecting church properties. The organisation works with the Catholic Church to provide both spiritual and practical assistance to communities in need
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