Jihadist attack : AU calls for urgent action in Mozambique

The African Union on Thursday called for urgent and coordinated international action following a jihadist attack that killed dozens and uprooted thousands on the northern Mozambican coastal town of Palma.

The jihadists captured Palma on March 24, ransacking buildings, beheading residents and forcing thousands to seek safety in the surrounding forest.

Dozens have been killed, more than 8,000 displaced and many more are still missing following the coordinated attack seen as the biggest escalation of an Islamist insurgency that has battered Cabo Delgado province since 2017.

AU Commission chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat said he “condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attacks,” calling for an “urgent and coordinated regional and international action.”

Meanwhile, the regional bloc, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) held emergency talks in Harare to discuss the violence.

Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi said SADC would “respond in a helpful manner that will assure the integrity and sovereignty of one of our own, never to be assaulted by dissident, rebellious and non-state actor forces that undermine the democratic credentials and peace in the region.”

Edited by Olajumoke Adeleke