Save the Children International (SCI) has raised concerns over the ‘beheading of children’ in the Mozambique province of Cabo Delgado.
The humanitarian organisation said children as young as 11 are reportedly being killed in the province as conflict continues to displace thousands.
Save the Children, in a report, said it spoke to displaced families who reported horrifying scenes of murder and grief and the loss of loved ones.
More than 600,000 people from Cabo Delgado have been displaced, according to government estimates, due to attacks by armed groups.
Approximately 100,000 internally displaced people have sought refuge in and around Pemba in temporary shelter sites, such as school buildings, or with host families, increasing the city’s population by a third.
It is understood that many displaced persons cannot access clean drinking water and are exposed to malaria with barely any protection.
The fighting that started in October 2017 has continued to increase in intensity as it has forced almost a fifth of the province’s people to leave their homes.
One mother, Elsa, 28, spoke of her eldest child, Filipe, 12, being beheaded near to where she was hiding with her other three children, according to Save the Children, which said it protected the real names of victims.
‘That night our village was attacked and houses were burnt. When it all started, I was at home with my four children’, Elsa said, according to the humanitarian organisation.
‘We tried to escape to the woods, but they took my eldest son and beheaded him. We could not do anything because we would be killed too’.
‘Every child has the right to life and safety, and children must be protected under all circumstances, including war and armed conflicts’, the organisation said.
‘For the children who may have witnessed their siblings being murdered, their suffering could last for years. Many may experience anxiety and depression or even signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)’.
Save the Children says its response in Cabo Delgado has reached over 70,000 people, including over 50,000 children, with education, child protection, health (including Covid-19 measures), and water and sanitation programming.
Source: Save the Children
Photo source: MSF
