Violence swept through northern Mozambique one week in late November, unfolding in a series of coordinated attacks that forced tens of thousands from their homes.

On Nov. 20, 2025, armed militants linked to the Islamic State Mozambique Province attacked Primeiro de Maio, a village in the Muidumbe district. The assailants moved swiftly through the community, killing four civilians and setting houses ablaze.

Nearby villages, including Nampanha and Mapate, were also affected as fear spread rapidly through the area. By nightfall, bodies lay outside abandoned homes, and survivors had scattered into the surrounding forests or begun the long walk toward safer towns.

For those who survived, the memories remain raw.

“Thousands of families are suffering as they try to escape terrorists,” said a displaced resident who fled in terror and now lives in uncertainty far from home. “Most houses have been burned, and people have been killed.”

The violence intensified in the following days. On Nov. 25, war struck again, and the perpetrators launched attacks across the Memba district in Nampula Province. In Mazua village, militants killed at least four civilians, sending waves of fear through surrounding communities.

As insecurity spread, families fled in growing numbers, abandoning homes and fields. More than 80,000 people have been displaced across the Memba district alone.

A church leader described a population gripped by fear.

“The situation is painful,” he said. “Populations are terrified and without a way out.”

Attacks spread across the Eráti district, striking villages including Pavala, Sirissa, Nhage, and Nahavara. In places such as Lúrio and Mazula, homes, crops, and churches were abandoned overnight as families escaped with little more than the clothes they wore.

During the week, at least 22 Christians were killed across northern Mozambique.

“This was a week of terror and much suffering,” said Bishop Alberto Vera, the Catholic Bishop of Nacala, whose diocese covers parts of the affected region. “Parents and their children had to flee to safer places. Terror is in the whole district. People have been killed.”

Survivors and witnesses spoke of attackers moving from house to house, setting fires, and chasing residents who tried to escape. Many left behind the only places they had ever called home, the fields they had planted season after season, and the churches that had anchored community life for generations. Those known to be Christians were especially vulnerable, their faith making them each a target.

For Bishop Vera, the suffering is etched into the communities under his care.

“These are families, children, and elderly people who only want to live in peace,” he said. “The church suffers with them and walks with them, even when everything has been taken away.”

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