Mozambique: New Year attacks devastate villages

At least eight people have been killed in Islamist militant attacks in northern Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province.

The attacks were reported between Thursday and Saturday, in the villages of Malinde, Chinda, Ntotwe, Chai and Chimbanga.

Rwandan forces are responsible for the security cordon in the province’s port of Mocímboa da Praia, but they had already become strained after previous incursions forced families from their homes.

The local administrator, Sérgio Domingos, visited Ntotwe village, where he urged resident to keep farming despite the security situation.

On Monday, the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières said one of its associates had been killed during an attack by jihadists on Friday in Mocímboa da Praia.