ISIS in Mozambique: Children Beheaded

Translation by Fousesquawk

Photo-Save the Children

Islamic terrorists in Mozambique's northern province of Cabo Delgado have reportedly been committing a series of atrocities against villagers. According to recent reports, even children are being beheaded by Islamic terrorists belonging to a ISIS-affiliated group called Al Shabab (apparently not related to Al Shabaab of Somalia).

I have been checking Portuguese-language newspapers in Mozambique-which is a former Portuguese colony), but thus far, have not found much detail about the killings. However, I did find this from Publico of Portugal. In this story, a woman of four tells Save the Children how she lost her 12-year-old son during an attack and actually saw him being beheaded while hiding with her three other children.  

https://www.publico.pt/2021/03/16/mundo/noticia/ong-ha-criancas-serem-decapitadas-cabo-delgado-1954602

Children are beheaded in Cabo Delgado, says NGO

Save the children asks for humanitarian help for families dislocated by the conflict in North Mozambique. Almost one million people are facing "severe hunger".

Caption: Thousands of people forced to flee the conflict in Cabo Delgado

Children have been beheaded in the province of Cabo Delgado, in the north of Mozambique, which has been the stage for an armed conflict for more than three years, says the NGO, Save the Children.

"Else" (28) saw her son, "Felipe" (12), being beheaded while she and her other three children hid after an attack on the village where she lived. "We tried to flee to the forest, but they took my oldest son from me and beheaded him. We couldn't do anything because otherwise, we would have been dead," said the woman to the organization.

Save the Children says that the humanitarian crisis in Cabo Delgado has been "underreported" and warns of the lack of aid for the affected population.

"The aid is desperately needed, but few donors have given priority to those who have lost everything as well as their children," at a time in which the world is also dealing with Covid-19, says Chance Briggs, director of the organization in Mozambique, quoted in a statement.

Save the Children pointed out that, "almost one million people are facing severe hunger," as a direct result of the wave of dislocated people caused by the armed conflict in the region, including dislocated persons and host communities.

As a reflection of the age pyramid of the country, about half of the people affected by the violence are under 18, witnessing death and destruction many times and themselves being target of the parties to the conflict.

"All the parties should guarantee that children are never targeted. They should respect international humanitarian laws and human rights and take all necessary actions to minimize civilian damages, including the end of indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks against children," Briggs added.

"The reports of attacks on children bother us deeply. Our team was moved to tears at hearing stories of suffering told my mothers in displaced persons camps," he stressed.

The organization warned of the possibility that many children would become subject to anxiety, depression, and, in some cases, post-traumatic-stress after the episodes of violence they have experienced.