The 2021 Palma attack in Mozambique resulted in 1,200 deaths, according to a survey.

An investigation estimates that about 1,200 people died or went missing in a rebel attack on Palma, northern Mozambique, in March 2021 and in the violence in the following days, American author, writer and journalist Alex Perry told Lusa on Monday.

“In total, 1,193 people were killed or missing (presumably killed) and another 209 people were abducted,” of which 156 people under the age of 18 were among those killed, including infants and children, he reports on his personal website.

A total of 432 people are missing, of which 366 were shot and 330 beheaded, details the results of the investigation released last week.

Until this Monday, no organization (state or otherwise) had provided a casualty estimate for the attack that paralyzed a gas project led by TotalEnergies and exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in the province, which has been under insurgent fire since 2017.

The gap seemed so “surprising” to the author that he used $20,000 (18,300 euros) from the prize (George Polk Prize) received with another report he had written about the attack to return to Cabo Delgado and fund the investigation.

“We talked about hundreds of deaths, but there was no balance,” he recalls.

The numbers were obtained door-to-door in 13,686 homes in Palma and 15 nearby villages between November 2022 and March of this year by a team hired by Alex Perry “with care” about the rigor and craftsmanship of local slings.

“We were meticulous: 97% of deaths are identified by name, age, gender, address and how they died,” he says.

Alex Perry estimates the number higher because the analysis of the results was “conservative”, excluding questionable information, and because it covers only the civilian population (in the surveyed communities), excluding casualties among the military, insurgents and workers on the gas project. .

When asked what he intends to achieve with the publication, the author says that as a journalist he limits himself to “establishing the fact”.

“What people do with facts is no longer my job,” he said.

Perry adds a disapproving opinion from TotalEnergies to the collection, holding it responsible for what happened: “We’re not saying Total killed anyone, but it promised security,” which only existed for the project’s fenced area, he accuses, and with the Mozambican troops, that they never demonstrated the ability to protect the population.

“You can’t pretend to be a good neighbor and then ‘ignore’ when more than 1,000 people die or are not interested in counting the dead,” Perry said.

The author shared the data with the French oil company and the Mozambican authorities, but, according to him, received no response.

The French oil company told Lusa that it “could not comment on the data” of the investigation and, on the other hand, transferred responsibility for the security of the project and the surrounding area at that time to the combined forces of Mozambique’s defense and interior ministries.

However, until the withdrawal of all personnel from Afunga, the consortium “took an active part in providing assistance to the population”, to whom it provided water, food, emergency medical assistance and guaranteed air and sea transfers “for the most vulnerable, especially women and children “.

Since then, TotalEnergys has shown all its solidarity with the government and the people,” he added.

Lusa has also requested responses and clarifications from various government ministries in Mozambique, but has yet to receive a response.

Alex Perry says what he classifies as the Palma “massacre” will be the basis for a book he hopes to release within two years, with a “detailed recreation” of the facts and a global look at “the behavior of the oil industry.” and gas, where I ask why it is so associated with violence.”

And Palma exemplifies this work because he considers it one of the “worst” that has ever happened, he concludes.