Nearly 100,000 people in northern Mozambique have fled in recent weeks as armed groups have stormed their villages, often at night. They have burnt homes, killed civilians, and forced families to escape without belongings or documents. Nampula province now faces a fourth major influx of displaced people in recent months, pushing already fragile host communities beyond capacity. Schools, churches, and open spaces are overflowing, while humanitarian workers are struggling to respond to simultaneous attacks in many districts. Violence linked to the so-called IS has already displaced more than 1.3 million people since 2017, and now threatens communities which have previously been safe refuges. UNHCR warns that current funding covers only half of what is required, and needs will rise sharply into 2026. Lacking adequate shelter, food, and water, some families are returning to unsafe areas simply because overcrowded conditions leave them no other choice.

On 30 April Ecuadorean president Daniel Noboa decreed a state of emergency in five coastal provinces, lasting sixty days, because of ‘internal armed conflict’. The measure marks the second such declaration by Noboa, who took office in November with promises to turn around a deteriorating security situation which has led to a spike in violent deaths and other crimes. The police and armed forces will be deployed in the provinces for ‘tactical combat operations’ against organised armed groups’. The government blames the violence (including the dramatic invasion of a television station and mass hostage-taking of prison guards in January) on drug-trafficking gangs.