African Union Decries Violence In Mozambique, Calls For Int'l Response To Terrorism

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 01st April, 2021) The African Union has denounced violence in the Cabo Delgado province in northern Mozambique that recently endured multiple terrorist attacks, and has urged the international community to step up security and humanitarian efforts in the area.

"The Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado region and particularly the recent violence in and around the environs of Palma Town," the union said in a statement published late on Wednesday.

It also read that the chairperson called for "urgent and coordinated regional and international action to address" the terrorist threat in the region.

Militants of the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia) ambushed Palma on March 24 and seized control of the town. Though the area has been recently cut off in communications, the siege and fighting are believed to be ongoing in the area, with at least 57 civilians killed since the takeover. The information on the situation on the ground is provided by escapees, who managed to leave the town.

According to the latest data, some 8,166 persons fled Palma and arrived in neighboring cities. The number of residents, who remain in the terrorist-seized area, hiding in forests, remains unknown.