The city of Pemba will host a Benfica soccer training academy for displaced youths, announced the mayor of the northern provincial capital of Cabo Delgado.

It is going to be a social academy," declared Florete Simba, quoted yesterday by Televisão de Moçambique (TVM).

The memorandum, signed in Lisbon with Benfica's management, foresees that the Portuguese club will support the training of players and coaches, including physical education teachers who are interested.

?the idea is to help young people who live in various neighborhoods of the city of Pemba, including populations displaced by the armed conflict? declared Florete Simba.

Cabo Delgado province has been facing an armed insurgency for five years with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.

The insurgency has led to a military response since July 2021 with support from Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), liberating districts near gas projects, but new waves of attacks have emerged south of the region and in neighboring Nampula province.

The conflict has already made one million people displaced, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and about 4,000 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project.