Seven killed in Mozambique IS attack

MAPUTO: Seven people including a policeman were killed in northern Mozambique this week in a militant attack claimed by the Islamic State group, local sources said Saturday.

The attack on Wednesday evening occurred in Lidjungo village in the Nangade district, a local source based in Mozambique´s northern Cabo Delgado province told AFP. One policeman and six civilians were killed in the attack, including two children.

Islamist fighters have targeted remote communities in the gas-rich, Muslim-majority Cabo Delgado province since October 2017, killing more than 250 people and forcing thousands from their homes despite a heavy police and military presence in the area that borders Tanzania. According to SITE Intelligence, which monitors militant activity, Islamic State issued a statement late on Friday claiming involvement in the Wednesday attack. This is its second IS claim for an attack in Mozambique, targeting the volatile northern region. </s> Seven people including a policeman were killed in northern Mozambique this week in a jihadist attack claimed by the Islamic State group, local sources said Saturday.

The attack on Wednesday evening occurred in Lidjungo village in the Nangade district, a local source based in Mozambique's northern Cabo Delgado province told AFP. One policeman and six civilians were killed in the attack, including two children.

Islamist fighters have targeted remote communities in the gas-rich, Muslim-majority Cabo Delgado province since October 2017, killing more than 250 people and forcing thousands from their homes despite a heavy police and military presence in the area that borders Tanzania.

According to SITE Intelligence, which monitors jihadist activity, Islamic State issued a statement late on Friday claiming involvement in the Wednesday attack.

This is its second IS claim for an attack in Mozambique, targeting the volatile northern region. The first was on June 3.

"The soldiers of the caliphate assaulted barracks of the crusader Mozambican army, in the Nangade area, in northern Mozambique, two days ago," said the statement, according to a SITE translation.

The group claimed to have clashed with the military "killing and wounding a number of them and forcing the remainder to flee".

It said fighters seized weapons and ammunition.

The group first claimed involvement in northern Mozambique last month, saying it carried out an attack that took place in Metubi village, about 150 kilometres east of Nangade.

The police and government have a policy of not commenting on any insurgent activity, even if attacks are confirmed by local residents.

The identity of the militant Islamists staging attacks in northern Mozambique remains unclear and the motives unknown.

Analysts have expressed doubts over claims by the Islamic State, suggesting that it is unlikely that the group would have direct contact with fighters in Mozambique.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) </s> Seven people, including a police officer, were killed in northern Mozambique in an attack claimed by the jihadist group Islamic State, local sources reported on Saturday.

One police officer and six civilians, including two children, were killed in the attack, which took place on Wednesday evening in the village of Lidjungo, Nangade district, AFP was told by a local official based in Cabo Delgado province in northern Mozambique, without giving details of how the attackers operated.

Since October 2017, Islamist militants have targeted isolated communities in Cabo Delgado province, a gas-rich and predominantly Muslim province, killing more than 250 people and forcing thousands more to leave their homes despite a strong police and military presence in this region bordering Tanzania.

According to SITE Intelligence, which monitors jihadist activities, the Islamic state group issued a statement on Friday evening, stating its involvement in the Wednesday attack. This is the second time he has claimed an attack in northern Mozambique.

“Caliphate soldiers attacked Mozambican army barracks in the Nangade region of northern Mozambique two days ago,” according to a SITE translation. The group claimed to have encountered the soldiers “killing and wounding a number of them and forcing others to flee”.

The EI had already claimed its involvement in an attack in northern Mozambique on 3 June in the village of Metubi, 150 km east of Nangade.

Police and authorities have a policy of not commenting on insurgent activities, even if the attacks are confirmed by the local population.

The identity of Islamist militants active in northern Mozambique remains uncertain and their motives unknown. Several analysts expressed doubts about the EI’s claims, suggesting that it is unlikely that the group will have direct contact with fighters in Mozambique. </s> Twelve people were killed and 14 injured in an attack by suspected jihadists on a village in a gas-rich region of northern Mozambique, a local source told AFP on Friday.

 

 “Ten people killed were shot by firearms and two burnt (to death) after 55 houses were charred. A person was beheaded after being shot dead” in the northern village of Paqueue late Thursday, said the source. </s> Twelve villagers were killed and 14 wounded in an attack by suspected jihadists on a village in a gas-rich region of northern Mozambique, a local source told AFP on Friday.

Since October, government plans to exploit the country's gas reserves have been thrown into doubt by an explosion of bloodthirsty assaults in the region where the industry plans to base its hub.

"Ten people were shot (dead) by firearms and two burnt (to death)," the source said of the violence which took place late Thursday in Paqueue village which lies close to the Quirimbas tourist archipelago.

One of the shooting victims had also been beheaded and the attackers had burnt 55 houses, the source said.

Medics said another 14 people were wounded in the attack.

In a separate incident further north, gunmen attacked a military convoy near the Tanzanian border on Thursday night, killing a senior army officer, a police source said.

"The attackers wore military uniforms and had large-calibre firearms," the source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Since October, more than 40 people have been killed in brazen machete and gun assaults on unarmed villagers in the coastal region.

Security forces have rushed reinforcements to the area yet seem powerless to stem the attacks. Terrorised, many civilians have fled their homes and a cloud hangs over the great expansion plans.

Back in June, while visiting Palma, one of the areas worst hit by the attacks, President Filipe Nyusi vowed the security forces would be "firm and ruthless" in pursuing the jihadists.

The region has been relatively quiet in recent months but the latest attack was likely to raise fears that the nascent insurgency had regrouped.

Police did not return calls for comment on the latest bloodshed.

Locals and authorities call the assailants Al-Shabaab, although the group has no known link to the notorious Somali Islamists of that name, nor has it issued any claim of responsibility or demands.

According to academic researchers, the group wants to impose Sharia law in the Muslim-majority province.

The attackers are believed to have staged their first attack on a police station and military outpost in the northern town of Mocimboa da Praia in October 2017. Two officers died and 14 attackers were killed.

In the following weeks, at least 300 Muslims were arrested, some of them Tanzanians, and several mosques shuttered -- and then suspicion began to fall on the region's residents.

After 180 trillion cubic feet (5.1 trillion cubic metres) of natural gas were discovered off its northeastern shores, Mozambique entertained dreams of following Qatar down the path towards prosperity.

The government even predicted that by 2035, GDP per head could increase sevenfold. </s> Twelve villagers were killed and 14 injured in an attack by suspected jihadists on a village in a gas-rich region of northern Mozambique, a local source told AFP on Friday.

Since October, the southeast African country's golden vision to exploit its gas reserves has been thrown into doubt by an explosion of bloodthirsty assaults in the region where the industry plans to base its hub.

"Ten people killed were shot by firearms and two burnt (to death) after 55 houses were charred. A person was beheaded after being shot dead" in the northern village of Paqueue late Thursday, said the source.

A health official in the Cabo Delgado region, who declined to be named, said that an ambulance was dispatched to Paqueue to "rescue the 14 wounded".

In a separate incident, a military convoy came under attack near the Tanzanian border north of Paqueue, killing a senior army officer, according to a police source.

"The attack occurred at night when defence and security forces routinely patrol. The attackers wore military uniforms and had large-calibre firearms," said the source who declined to be named. </s> Cairo: An al-Qaeda-linked Islamist group in Mali has claimed responsibility for an attack that killed 10 UN peacekeepers from Chad on Sunday in the north of the country, the group said in statement posted on Telegram.

The Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen group said the attack was a response to Chadian President Idriss Deby's revival of diplomatic relations with Israel.

The group's claim of responsibility echoed a statement released last week by al-Shabab, the al-Qaeda chapter in East Africa, after the shooting at a hotel in Nairobi that killed 21 people. The Nairobi attack, al-Shabab claimed, was carried out under the orders of al-Qaida and was in retaliation for President Donald Trump's decision to move the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was in Chad at the time of the attack. </s> JOHANNESBURG — A fuel tanker exploded in northern Mozambique as residents gathered around to buy fuel from the driver on Thursday, killing 73 people and injuring 110 others, Mozambican media reported.

Dozens of charred bodies were scattered around the blast site in the town of Caphiridzange in Tete province, and government officials believed more bodies might be in surrounding woods, Radio Mozambique reported. Some badly burned people had tried to run into a nearby river, the radio said.

A truck driver from neighboring Malawi had turned off the main road to sell fuel to local residents, who were gathered around the vehicle when the fuel caught fire, according to Radio Mozambique.

Medical teams rushed to the scene of the accident, evacuating the injured in ambulances and other vehicles. Searchers looked for more victims, though their efforts were hampered as night fell.

The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear. Citing Mozambican reports, the Portuguese news agency Lusa said one theory was that a fire near the tanker set off the blast, while another theory pointed to a lightning strike as residents were collecting the fuel.

A national government task force planned to travel to the accident site on Friday. </s> Twelve villagers were killed and 14 injured in an attack by suspected jihadists on a village in a gas-rich region of northern Mozambique, a local source told AFP on Friday.

Since October, the southeast African country’s golden vision to exploit its gas reserves has been thrown into doubt by an explosion of bloodthirsty assaults in the region where the industry plans to base its hub.

“Ten people killed were shot by firearms and two burnt (to death) after 55 houses were charred. A person was beheaded after being shot dead” in the northern village of Paqueue late Thursday, said the source.

A health official in the Cabo Delgado region, who declined to be named, said that an ambulance was dispatched to Paqueue to “rescue the 14 wounded”.

In a separate incident, a military convoy came under attack near the Tanzanian border north of Paqueue, killing a senior army officer, according to a police source.

“The attack occurred at night when defence and security forces routinely patrol. The attackers wore military uniforms and had large-calibre firearms,” said the source who declined to be named. DM

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ISIL claims responsibility for a Wednesday attack in Nangade District in Mozambique, which killed seven people.