The administrator of Eráti district, in Nampula province, the scene of an armed attack on Friday, said today that the number of people fleeing from Kútua, on the southern bank of the Lúrio river, bordering Cabo Delgado, continues to "multiply"..

"The movement of displaced people is continuing. It is multiplying, we are in a crisis situation," Manuel Manusso told Lusa.

Manusso said that people seek refuge in the district's main town, Namapa, where they are welcomed by family members, local leaders, and the general population.

He did not specify the number of people who have left Kútua, the targeted village, noting that the communities are "disturbed."

the administrator of Eráti noted that the district was already hosting war displaced people forced to flee Cabo Delgado province since the beginning of armed attacks in October 2017.

"We have been receiving this wave of displaced people, because some have been here for two or three years," Manuel Manusso emphasized.

Manusso said that the Defense and Security Forces are on the ground to try to restore security and allow the population to return.

The police spokesman in Nampula, Zacarias Nacute, told Lusa on Monday that the attack on Eráti may have been carried out by the same armed groups that terrorize Cabo Delgado.

"There is a possibility that it is a terrorist attack carried out by this group of individuals who are in Cabo Delgado province," Nacute said.

This is the second time that neighboring provinces of Cabo Delgado have been the target of attacks similar to those that have taken place there - and where it is also unclear who is behind the violence.

In December 2021, there was the same suspicion regarding attacks in areas of Niassa province bordering Cabo Delgado.

Cabo Delgado province has been terrorized since 2017 by armed violence, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.