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An armed group burned down 15 houses in a village in Cabo Delgado province, northern Mozambique, during an attack on the area in the early hours of Friday without causing any casualties.

The attack occurred in the early hours of Friday, 30 kilometres from the district headquarters and near the road linking Macomia to the districts of Mueda, Mocímboa da Praia, Nangade, Muidumbe and Palma, all in the northern part of Cabo Delgado.

“We were convinced that this would not happen again because Macomia district headquarters has military personnel,” said a resident of Nova Zambézia village.

“The attackers came from the Quinto Congresso side, and that’s where the military’s base is. It’s strange,” said another source.

After the incursion of the armed group, the population fled into the bush, reliving an experience that seemed to have been left behind, following the reinforcement of security in districts ravaged by the action of armed groups in northern Cabo Delgado.

Cabo Delgado province is rich in natural gas but has been terrorised since October 2017 by armed rebels, some claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.

The conflict has led to more than 3 100 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project, and more than 817,000 displaced people, according to Mozambican authorities.

Since July, an offensive by government troops with support from Rwanda, which was later joined by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), allowed for increased security, recovering several areas where there was rebel presence, including the town of Mocímboa da Praia, which had been occupied since August 2020.