JOHANNESBURG/PEMBA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st May, 2021) Citizens of the Mozambican town of Palma that was captured by terrorists in March call on the authorities to find alternative ways of support those displaced, including by asking for help from foreign countries, because those affected by the situation receive no state assistance.
The call comes as the survivors of the jihadist attack on Palma in late March, who fled to the provincial capital of Pemba, said they have not had decent living conditions for two months.
"We ask the government of Mozambique to ask support from international countries to be able to fight the insurgents since the Mozambican military is incapable. It is also important for the government to know that our lives were not the same as it was before in our places of origin. We are treated badly here in Pemba and we are without food, so it is important to ask for support from rich countries so that they can provide us with sustenance and shelter during this period that we are here," Wazire Anly, one of the Palma survivors, told Sputnik.
In late March, militants linked to the Islamic State terrorist organization (IS), banned in Russia, announced the seizure of Palma, which is home to international gas projects, and murdered an unknown number of people.
Most of the displaced were accommodated in camps in the Maringanha and Chuiba neighborhoods, where they are waiting for the government to notify them that life is back to normal and the region is safe from the Al-Shabaab group, linked to the IS.
Senior consultant for Southern Africa at International Crisis Group Piers Pigou told Sputnik that over 800,000 people have been internally displaced in the Cabo Delgado province since jihadists launched an insurgency in 2017, leading to a growing humanitarian crisis in the country.
