Islamic State says it has executed 11 Christians in Mozambique

The terrorist organization “Islamic State”, through its propaganda channels, said that it executed 11 Christians in Mozambique, in the Mocimboa da Praia region, Cabo Delgado province.

The terrorist group, which has been active in Cabo Delgado province for almost six years, also says it attacked elements of Mozambique’s armed forces with a bomb.

Local sources heard by Lusa this Sunday report that the attack took place around 15:00 on Friday (14:00 Lisbon time) in Nakitenga, a village in the interior of the Mocimboa da Praia region, but do not confirm an incursion against elements of the Mozambican army. .

“When they got there, they called a meeting. The people in the village did not know that they were terrorists, and after that they began to separate Christians from Muslims by name. After that, they opened fire on the Christians,” he told Lusa the source, who lost his nephew during the attack.

Although the Islamic State claims 11 people were killed, sources heard by Lusa say at least 12 were killed at the scene and several injured.

“They practically shot people to death. Some people were wounded and fled into the forest. This is one of the most brutal attacks we have ever heard of,” another source from Mocimboa da Praia, who has a family member who managed to escape from Nakitenge at the time of the attack, told Lusa.

The Mocimboa da Praia area was the area where armed groups carried out their first attack in October 2017 and has long been considered a rebel “base”.

Mocimboa da Praia is located 70 km south of the construction site of the natural gas exploration project in Afungi, Palma, managed by TotalEnergies.

Mozambique’s Ministry of Defense has not yet commented on the attack.

This invasion occurred less than a month after the announcement on August 25 by the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Mozambique, Joaquim Rivas Mangrassé, that the country’s terrorist leader, Mozambican Bonomade Machude, had been eliminated. Omar along with other members of the terrorist group’s leadership.

Bonomade Machude Omar, considered the leader of the radical Islamic State group in Mozambique, was the target of the second phase of the so-called Operation Golpe Duro II carried out by the Mozambican army.

The extremist leader has been described by some experts as a “symbiosis of brutality and vigilance” and is on the US list of “global terrorists” and is the target of European Union sanctions.

In August 2021, the United States added Bonomeid Machoude Omar, also known as Abu Sulaifah Muhammad and Ibn Omar, to its list of “Specially Designated Global Terrorists” (SDGT).

Cabo Delgado province has faced armed insurgency for nearly six years, with the Islamic State extremist group claiming responsibility for some attacks.

On the ground, in Cabo Delgado, they are fighting terrorism – attacks that have been occurring since October 2017 and which have driven the advancement of natural gas projects in the region – the Mozambique Armed Defense Forces since July 2021, with the support of Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community ( SADC).

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the conflict in northern Mozambique has already displaced one million people and nearly 4,000 deaths, according to the ACLED Conflict Record Project, while Mozambique’s president admitted this week to “more than 2,000” . deaths.