Aid workers in Macomia, Mozambique have been forced to flee following attacks by ISIS-linked terrorists.
It comes after reports last week that, ISIS militants have captured the city.
The aid group Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) said it had pulled back staff in the region and stopped some of its services.
The NGO wrote on X, formerly Twitter,: “After clashes and looting during & after an attack by non-state armed groups on Macomia town in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, we have temporarily relocated some team members and put our activities on hold, while we evaluate the situation and review our operational set-up.
“We continue to be deeply concerned about the impact of this violence, including displacement, for people living in Macomia.”
READ MORE: ISIS terrorists carry out ‘major attack’ with jihadists storming city
A regional force from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which deployed in Mozambique in 2021, began pulling out its troops last month as its mandate concludes in July.
Piers Pigou, head of the Southern Africa Programme at the Institute for Security Studies, said last week’s attack on the Macomia district headquarters validates concerns over a security vacuum emerging following the southern African troops’s withdrawal.
Speaking to Reuters he said: “Claims that the province has been for the most part stabilised are evidently not accurate.
President Nyusi said that attacks can take place in periods of transition such as this, and said he hoped that the SADC forces would be able to step in and provide assistance. It is not clear whether they are deployed in the area or involved in repelling the attacking forces, the outlet reports.
Rwanda has deployed troops to Mozambique to help tackle the insurgency.
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