Mozambique’s Silenced Storytellers Resurface: How Journalists Escaped Jihadi Persecution

This report examines how a group of community journalists in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado managed to escape after militants overran their radio station — offering insights into the risks media are enduring under insurgency, and the implications for press freedom and public information flow in conflict zones. The situation illuminates broader systemic challenges tied to the Islamist insurgency that has repeatedly targeted journalists and attempted to criminalize independent reporting.

On 31 October 2020, jihadist militants attacked the facilities of St. Francis of Assisi community radio, located in Muambala village of the Muidumbe district. The station served as a vital source of local news and community information. As the militants stormed the station and the adjoining parish church, the nine media workers present — who also had family members with them — fled into the bush with little more than the clothes on their backs. They dodged gunfire and improvised shelters, walking for days amid extreme danger.

Over approximately 15 days, these journalists traversed remote terrain under harsh conditions. According to testimonies gathered by FORCOM (National Forum of Community Radios), they endured hunger, extreme fatigue, and widespread fear as they moved toward safer districts, such as Mueda and Montepuez. The escape involved not just professional survival, but personal risk: one journalist, for instance, said his 27-year-old daughter was abducted during the attack, narrowly escaping later to join them in the bush.

Eventually — thanks to logistical support by FORCOM — all nine journalists reached areas considered relatively secure, where they remain in temporary refuge. Their survival and escape have raised critical questions about the safety of media workers, the protection of press freedom, and the ability of local populations to access independent reporting in Cabo Delgado’s conflict-ridden zones.

This incident must be viewed in the larger context of the insurgency in Cabo Delgado that began in 2017, which by 2025 had displaced hundreds of thousands and destabilized entire communities. Analysts note that journalists have increasingly become targets — accused by some officials of colluding with militants, or of spreading “terrorist propaganda.”

The flight of these nine journalists underscores a stark reality: the jihadi campaign does not only take lives or destroy property — it seeks to silence information. Without protection for local media, civilian populations risk losing one of their few conduits for truth. The case demonstrates the urgent need for international mechanisms to safeguard local journalists in conflict zones, and for humanitarian and security strategies to consider media protection as essential to restoring transparency and trust.

Reference – 

https://clubofmozambique.com/news/mozambique-journalists-fleeing-terrorists-reach-safety-aim-report/