Two people were seriously injured and dozens of huts were set on fire Tuesday night in a mostly Christian village in Nkoe, Macomia district, forcing the population to flee and worsening the humanitarian crisis in Cabo Delgado, several local sources told VOA on Wednesday..

Three other people were beheaded to death following attacks by armed groups linked to the Islamic State on villages in the interior of Meluco district, where dozens of homes were also burned, VOA's sources told.

After attacking Mitepo and Mussemuco villages over the weekend, the armed group again climbed Mitepo on Tuesday, allegedly for an offensive against the force that had moved into the area, having beheaded three peasants who had returned after the previous attack.

"These people no longer had anywhere to go, and many of those who stay in these villages have no family members and cannot seek shelter in other areas," Abudo Ismael, a Meluco resident, told VOA, describing a new population movement in the district headquarters.

"Many people have arrived at the headquarters of Meluco since the weekend. Some people live under trees and without food," he stressed, insisting that among the displaced, numerous children accompany their parents.

Another local source reported that the terrorist group, locally known as al-shaabab had attacked and set fire to Mitepo village on Saturday the 9th, killing "a Christian man" and forcing hundreds of other families to flee, most of them already displaced from elsewhere.

On Sunday the 10th, the group invaded the village of Mussemuco, burning huts and destroying other goods, also killing another person.

The Republic of Mozambique Police (PRM) in Pemba did not respond to VOA's request for comment.

Meanwhile, on June 9, the Islamic State claimed back an attack on a Christian-majority village in the Ancuabe district, beheading two Christians, burning down a church and dozens of houses.

In June at least 32,000 people were forced to relocate in Ancuabe district, where more than 1,500 homes were burned down during insurgent attacks, according to various local sources.

Another barracks attacked

Also on Saturday, at the easternmost edge of Palma, in Pundanhar, an armed group attacked an outpost of the Defense and Security Forces (FDS), forcing the soldiers to retreat after a heavy confrontation.

The "intense confrontation," believed to have resulted in the deaths of many insurgents as well as some military and Rapid Intervention Unit (UIR) personnel, is the second in less than two weeks, following the June 29 assault on a barracks in Mandimba (Nangade).

Jasmine Opperman, an expert in data analysis of armed conflict, writes on her Twitter page that it is very likely that weapons captured by insurgents in Mandima (Nangade) were used in the attack on military position in Pundanhar.

"The insurgents' arms supply flow remains localized," writes Jasmine Opperman, who follows the conflict in Cabo Delgado, therefore considering it "a step backwards" in tightening arms supplies because the group has managed to capture the Defense and Security Forces' arsenal.

The insurgency spreading to the south of Cabo Delgado brings risks to some 61 projects in the mining sector, the expert says in another publication.

The radical Islamist-inspired insurgency erupted in 2017, leaving at least 4,000 according to ACLED and some 870,000 displaced. The insurgents' brutal tactics-including beheadings, mass kidnappings, and the burning of entire villages-continue to rock the region.