LILONGWE, Malawi

The Islamic Council of Mozambique on Tuesday offered mediation between the government and rebels fighting in the northern province of Cabo Delgado in the southern African nation.

During an international conference in the capital Maputo, the Muslim leaders expressed that the ongoing conflict in gas-rich Cabo Delgado has destabilized the whole region, leading to a “nightmare among people.”

Mussa Suede, the spokesperson of the conference, said the council is ready to bring peace to the region through dialogue.

“As long as we know the faces of the terrorists who operate in Cabo Delgado, the Islamic Council of Mozambique is willing to mediate. ... We can mediate and bring people to a dialogue to guarantee an effective peace,” Suede told the conference.

He said that every effort has been put so that Muslims in the southern African nation “act in a moderate way since Islam is a religion of peace.”

An armed insurgency with its origins in the wider socio-economic and political disparity hit northern Mozambique in 2017, leaving thousands dead and others displaced.

This year, over 80,000 people have fled their homes following attacks from armed groups, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF).