'The terrorists took everything!' -- report from Jornal Noticias, 2 September 2020

A rough translation of this article which appears in full in the print edition

No food, or a roof over their head, or clothes, is how thousands of families have been left after terrorists invaded, sacked, and burned their villages, abducting and killing girls, young men and adolescents, in northern Cabo Delgado. 

The modus operandi follows a pattern. Terrorists arrive around 3-4am, surround the entrances to avoid possible fleeing by car, and any attempts to communicate with the outside world. Those who are in their houses must wait until there is a small opportunity to escape directly into the bush, or wait until the evildoers break down doors and select their victims.

Families are divided into children, adolescents and young people, adults, and the old, to then have their fates decided. It's not clear over who escapes the fury of the terrorists, but girls between 12 and 20 and boys between 10 and 25 are kidnapped and forced to join the ranks of the criminal organisation. 

IDPs interviewed by Noticias tell of cases of children who see their parents decapitated; women seeing their husbands violently killed; and some having seen thier pregnant wife taken away for unthinkable ends.

Those who manage to flee to the bush can end up being more than three days with no food or water, and when they return everything is consumed by fire. And because, at the time of escape there is no space to take anything, families are subjected to staying in the open air or migrate to safe areas, sometimes crossing 30km on foot.

Villagers and their leaders abandon their areas of origin looking for relatively safe places. The number of displaced people is estimated at more than 240,000. Of those, 68,000 are accommodated in the homes of friends and relatives in Pemba and survive thanks to the charity of people of good faith who donate food aid and hygiene materials.