Mozambique's insurgency 'pushes thousands to COVID-19 hotspot'

Clashes between Mozambican government forces and Islamist insurgents in the northern Cabo Delgado province have forced thousands of fleeing residents to a coronavirus hotspot, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Many have sought refuge in Pemba where the ICRC helped build a coronavirus treatment centre, the society said.

This has exposed them to the likelihood of contracting coronavirus, said ICRC head of operations in Pemba, Raoul Bittel.

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The militants have been attacking remote villages across the province over the past two years.

The group – known locally as al-Shabab, or the youth – have an Islamist agenda, but they’re building on decades of local frustrations about unemployment, rigged elections, corruption and violence.

SOURCE: BBC