A humanitarian worker from the French NGO Solidarités International was killed in an ambush by an armed group in northern Mozambique, overwhelmed by jihadist violence for more than five years, AFP learned Tuesday, November 22 from the organization. .
International solidarity “is in shock following the announcement of the death of one of their colleagues, victim of an attack by an armed group” Sunday on a road from the district of Muidumbe towards Palma, in the province of Cabo Delgado, writes the NGO in a press release.
Tanzania’s northern border province, poor and predominantly Muslim, is plagued by jihadist violence that has killed more than 4,400 people, including nearly 2,000 civilians since October 2017, according to the NGO Acled, which collects data in the conflict areas. The violence also caused the flight of a million people, according to the UN.
Total of five dead
The victim, aged around 30, was of Mozambican nationality, said a spokesperson for the organization based in Paris and present in 23 countries. Other people were killed, she added, adding that she did not have more details at this stage.
The generally well-informed Mozambican news site Zitamar reported a total of five deaths, including the head of Palma police operations, his wife and nephew, and the aid worker. The latter was on his way after the weekend break to join Palma from the capital of the province Pemba, when his car was targeted, specifies Solidarités international.
The NGO was preparing food distributions in the region
In March 2021, a carefully planned deadly raid devastated the port city of Palma, population 75,000. The natural gas megaproject of the French group TotalEnergies, just a few kilometers away, had been stopped dead.
Solidarités International, regularly present in Mozambique and back since last year, was preparing distributions including food in the region. “The murder of our colleague and the civilians traveling with him shocks and revolts us”lamented the director of the NGO, Kevin Goldberg, quoted in the press release.