Mozambique: Muslims in Cabo Delgado begin Ramadan praying for war victims

In Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, home to two third of Mozambique's Muslims, faithful try to organise Ramadan celebrations despite poverty.

The northern region has been facing an ongoing conflict since 2017. For the beginning of the Holy Month, a local Imam in the city of Pemba calls for solidarity with all the victims of the war in his own country but also in other parts of the world such as Yemen, Ukraine and Ethiopia. "War doesn't need to end just here, it has to end all over the world....enough, because we are human beings too,Allah does not distinguishe people so we ask for peace no matter which side you're on." , says Issufo Mussá, a Muslim religious leader in the neighborhood of Paquitequete, in Cabo Delgado's capital Pemba. 

The local Imam has opened the doors of his mosque to several displaced people and relatives and offers some comfort. He introduces a group of displaced young people from Mocímboa da Praia who rehearse songs with lyrics of stories lived in the first person and that the religious leader says "give goose bumps" just hearing these songs.

Since July 2021, more than 3,000 troops from Rwanda and Southern African Development Community member states have flooded into Cabo Delgado to help the national forces.

But the crisis is not over, according to the UN, this conflict has forced almost 30,000 people to flee since the beginning of just this year.