with many driven to the point of no return. The UN refugee agency said more than 100,000 people have been forced to flee their homes since the start of the year, with nearly 22,000 people fleeing in a single week in late September. "What we have witnessed over the last two weeks is extraordinary human suffering," UNHCR's Mozambique representative Xavier Creach told reporters in Geneva, speaking from the Mozambican port town Pemba.

"Civilians are no longer collateral victims in this conflict: now they are directly targeted," he said. Renewed attacks have been reported in recent months in Cabo Delgado province, where an insurgency has been raging since 2017. Insurgents linked to the Islamic State jihadist group attacked the key Mozambique port town Mocimboa da Praia last month, clashing with troops and beheading civilians.

"The level of psychological distress is extremely moving and concerning," Creach said, decrying forced recruitment of children and sexual violence. He said the violence had escalated sharply this year, with well over 500 recorded security incidents affecting civilians - higher than any previous year - including raids on villages, abductions, killings and looting. (Bssnews)