At least 120 children abducted by insurgents in Mozambique, Human Rights Watch says

A charity claims at least 120 children have been kidnapped by jihadist insurgents

In this image made from video, a Mozambican soldier rides on an armored vehicle at the airport in Mocimboa da Praia, Cabo Delgado province, Mozambique, Aug. 9, 2021 (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

More than 120 children have been abducted by jihadist insurgents in northern Mozambique in recent days, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned, highlighting a disturbing escalation in the troubled Cabo Delgado province.

The children are reportedly being exploited by an Islamic State-linked group, locally known as al-Shabab, for various brutal purposes. These include transporting looted goods, forced labour, and in some cases, being pressed into service as child soldiers or forced into marriage.

Mozambique has been grappling with an Islamist insurgency in Cabo Delgado since 2017. Government forces have struggled to contain the widespread violence, necessitating support from troops dispatched by Rwanda, South Africa, and other regional partners.

The latest abductions follow a pattern of extreme violence in the region. In 2020, the insurgents carried out a wave of attacks that saw dozens of people, including children, beheaded. Witnesses have previously reported that children seized from towns and villages were subsequently used as fighters in further assaults.

The violence has displaced more than 600,000 people and spilled into neighboring provinces, according to the United Nations.

Rwandan soldiers guard The Total Mozambique LNG Project in Afungi in the Cabo Delgado province, Mozambique, on September 29, 2022 (AFP/Getty)

Human Rights Watch said there had been a resurgence of attacks and child kidnappings in the last two months and called on Mozambique's government to do more to find the children and prevent further abductions.

The problems in Cabo Delgado were largely overshadowed by Mozambique's deadly and long-running post-election protests last year. Cabo Delgado has also been battered by several recent cyclones and hurt by U.S. President Donald Trump's cuts to foreign aid.

The Norwegian Refugee Council's Secretary General, Jan Egeland, visited Cabo Delgado this month and described the situation in northern Mozambique as a neglected crisis.

“Climate shocks, increasing violence and spiralling hunger are having a terrible impact on the population,” Egeland said.

The NRC said more than 5 million people faced critical levels of hunger and more than 900,000 people faced emergency hunger conditions.