A conflict driven by Al-Shabaab militants that erupted in Mozambique in 2017 is rapidly spreading to new areas, the organization has warned
Nearly 100,000 people in Mozambique have fled their homes in the past two weeks amid surging violence in the southern African country’s north, the UN has said, calling for urgent support to avert a deepening humanitarian crisis.
In a statement on Tuesday, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported a rapid spillover of a conflict that erupted in Cabo Delgado province in 2017, when Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab militants seized entire towns.
“2025 has seen a dangerous shift: attacks are now happening simultaneously and spreading beyond Cabo Delgado into Nampula Province, threatening communities that had previously hosted displaced families,” the organization said.
According to UNHCR estimates, more than 1.3 million people have been forced out of their homes since 2017 because of the Islamist insurgency.
The agency expressed grave concern about the influx, saying it is putting huge pressure on already fragile host communities, with schools, churches, and open spaces crowded with newly arriving families. It warned that many people, particularly women and girls sleeping in the open and in communal shelters, face heightened risks of sexual and gender-based violence.
“UNHCR is calling for urgent international support to protect people forced to flee, reinforce overstretched host communities and prevent further deterioration of the crisis,” it stated.
The agency has set its 2026 funding requirement at $38.2 million for operations in northern Mozambique, even as its 2025 appeal for $42.7 million remains only 50% funded.
Cabo Delgado, a mostly rural and resource-rich province with major offshore gas reserves and ruby mines, has become the epicenter of Mozambique’s security crisis, where Islamist militants have attacked villages, reportedly beheaded civilians, and destroyed infrastructure for the past eight years.
Regional forces from Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community were deployed in 2021 to support Mozambican troops and helped retake several strategic towns, but violence has persisted. According to conflict-monitoring group ACLED, more than 6,100 people have been killed since the beginning of the insurrection.
The UN has urged renewed efforts to tackle the root causes of the conflict, saying it is crucial to restoring stability and “breaking the cycle of violence and displacement.”
