MAPUTO – Insurgents linked to the Islamic State group attacked a key Mozambique port town near a major international gas hub, clashing with troops and beheading at least two civilians, locals reported yesterday.
The raid on Mocimboa da Praia, around 80 kilometres south of a multibillion-dollar liquefied natural gas project operated by French energy giant TotalEnergies, is the latest in a series of attacks in the region in recent weeks.
A local trader who fled the town with his family after the attack told AFP the insurgents struck late Sunday, killing two Mozambique soldiers and beheading two locals.
They clashed with Rwandan troops deployed to the area to reinforce their Mozambique counterparts and then pulled out, said the trader, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A local military official said four people were killed.
“Mozambican and Rwandan forces responded immediately and they withdrew,” he said, also on condition of anonymity.
The Moz24h media site cited locals as saying that four civilians were beheaded. Pictures shared on social media claimed to show some of the dead.
The Mozambican and Rwandan militaries did not immediately comment.
Mocimboa da Praia is an important town in the Cabo Delgado province, a flashpoint in the conflict waged by militants affiliated with the Islamic State group since 2017.
Previously a landing port for fuel, cars, tractors and other equipment for companies operating in the gas hub near Palma, the town was seized by the militants in 2020 but retaken in 2021 by Mozambican and Rwandan forces. Construction on the liquefied natural gas (LNG) project has been stalled since a major attack on the nearby town of Palma in March 2021 that claimed more than 800 lives, including of several TotalEnergies subcontractors, according to the conflict monitor ACLED.
TotalEnergies has announced that construction on the $20-billion LNG could restart this European summer.
The insurgent group has claimed responsibility for several in the area since late July, leading tens of thousands of people to leave their homes.
The British government this month advised against all travel to parts of Cabo Delgado and adjacent provinces, saying there is a “high threat of terrorist attack” or kidnapping.
– Nampa/AFP