The effect of the recent Islamist attack on Palma, Mozambique, is still being felt throughout the north of the country. ACN spoke with a local priest, who is still unable to find out what has happened to many of his parishioners. ACN’s project manager for Mozambique has expressed his horror at what is happening and frustration at the lack of international action.

By ACN Staff

Islamist in Cabo Delgado with the flag of ISIS. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)

It is just over a week since Palma in the Northern Mozambique province of Cabo Delgado was attacked by Islamist insurgents. Despite the worsening situation in the north of Mozambique, international media is still not paying much attention to what is going on. Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) spoke with local parish priest Father António Chamboco.

Refugees from Cabo Delgado. (Credit: Johan Viljoen)

Fr. António was not in Palma when the attack began on 24th of March. He followed events from afar though. He is very concerned and frustrated about the lack of information of what has happened to people from his parish. The priest is also currently unaware about the status of his church and parish hall, whether they are still standing or were destroyed by the Islamists.

Fr. António described his reaction to the attack:

"When I heard about the attack, I felt pain and sadness. Pain because I have been in Palma for a year and had already grown to love the people, the community there…I was in contact with two coordinators from the Catholic community during the first phase [of the attack]. When the [telephone] network was still working, they informed me that there was some shooting [in the village], but five minutes later there was no communication..."

Before the unrest in Mozambique, Palma had a population of around 50,000 people. It is certain that, at the very least. dozens have died. Palma is now, judging by videos sent to ACN, a ghost town. It seems to be the case that the vast majority of the population fled in the face of the Islamist advance. This means that thousands, potentially tens of thousands, of people are currently unaccounted for. Fr. António managed to make contact with one of the coordinators in his parish, who has fled to Tanzania. Fr. António has also heard word that another coordinator from his parish has escaped to a safe part of Mozambique, but has not heard directly from the coordinator.

Fr. António puts his faith in Our Lord:

“We pray during this Holy Week that Christ, with his suffering, death and resurrection, will bring relief to the people who are suffering at this time. We need to pray and trust in God to help and alleviate all these problems in Cabo Delgado province. "

Ulrich Kny, Project Manager for Mozambique at ACN, has expressed his horror at what is happening in Mozambique:

"The images we have seen are shocking. We cannot even share them because they wound human dignity by their brutality. The terrorists seem to want to cause maximum damage and sow the greatest terror in their destructive frenzy. We wonder how many more deaths there must be before the world does something to stop this violence. These lives do not seem to count. It tears my heart out."

Kyn has requested prayer for Mozambique, and also demands that countries pay more attention to what is happening in Mozambique. He elaborates further:

"We must increase our financial support and prayers for the Church in northern Mozambique. In view of the expected drastic increase in the influx of refugees, the diocese of Pemba and the neighbouring dioceses, which are already completely overwhelmed by the humanitarian disaster, will not be able to increase their work without outside help.”

ACN has provided €160,000 in aid to the Church Mozambique to help with the crisis. This is in addition to aid provided by ACN to help sustain priests and support the formation of seminarians. We are very greatly to continue support from benefactors through donations and prayer.

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