Families gather in northern Mozambique’s Nampula Province, after fleeing violence.
This article is published in association with United Nations.
The ongoing emergency in northern Mozambique continues to worsen as prolonged attacks by non-state armed groups in Nampula trigger one of the largest displacement surges of the year, the UN warned on Friday.
According to the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, 107,000 people have fled their homes in recent weeks, pushing total displacement in just the past four months to 330,000.
“They barely had time to recover when they again had to leave, due to attacks or fear of attacks,” said Paola Emerson, OCHA Head of Office in Mozambique.
The veteran humanitarian explained that violence has often uprooted families multiple times as they endure weeks of attacks.
This is an unusual pattern, compared to previous hit-and-run tactics characteristic of violence erupted in northern Cabo Delgado province in in 2017.
This conflict and climate shocks have now displaced more than 600,000 people, UN data indicates, while nearly nine in 10 of those fleeing violence have already fled at least once this year.
Pummelled by cyclones
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Ms. Emerson added that this latest wave of attacks has been particularly destabilising for communities already battered by three cyclones in 2025.
“A vast majority are children, 67 per cent,” Ms. Emmerson said. “There are huge concerns about protection, with reports of gender-based violence and children who are separated or unaccompanied.”
Most displaced families now shelter in overcrowded host communities, open areas and damaged schools where exams have been disrupted in several districts.
Aid distribution is far below needs, the UN aid official noted, with only around 40 per cent of people receiving “woeful” food assistance, amid “major stockouts”.
Ms. Emmerson warned that gaps in aid are already forcing some families to return to unsafe areas “with very little information about whether the situation has stabilised”.
Beheadings among other horrors
UN agencies have issued repeated alerts this week. On Tuesday, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said civilians described nighttime attacks, homes burned and summary executions by beheading as armed groups pushed into previously unaffected districts. The agency highlighted severe resource shortages, describing the response as “insufficient”.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) added on Friday that children are being pushed to breaking point. It warned of “staggering” levels of displacement and rising grave violations, including abductions and recruitment. The UN agency said that essential services – health, education, water and protection – are “straining under the weight of need”, just as the cyclone season is set to intensify.
Humanitarian partners are calling for urgent funding to prevent further deterioration, warning that without rapid support, the crisis will deepen and families may face renewed displacement within weeks.
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