Attacks on Christian Villages in Mozambique Are Accused Of Being Carried Out By Islamic State Militants.
The Islamic State terrorist organization has claimed credit for a string of assaults that left eight people dead, including one beheaded, and a number of homes on fire in Mozambique’s Christian settlements.
Between May 23 and May 31, the assaults took place in six Christian communities in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique’s most northern province. According to the U.S.-based International Christian Concern, the terror group then released photos of six people who had been beheaded and of towns that had been destroyed.
According to the ICC, four of those slain were Christians. It also said that hundreds of Christians have been slaughtered or driven from Mozambique by the Islamic State and its offshoot organizations.
Between June 2 and June 9, Cabo Delgado’s Ancuabe district experienced a new wave of violent attacks that caused the displacement of close to 10,000 people, according to a statement from Save the Children. They also claimed that at least four people are thought to have been beheaded during those attacks.
According to the BBC, since Cabo Delgado’s civil war began in October 2017, more than 4,000 people have died and 800,000 have been displaced from their homes. The BBC noted that although Cabo Delgado is rich in natural resources like gold, graphite, rubies, and gas, the profits go to a small elite within the ruling Frelimo party and few jobs have been created—a situation that the Islamic State and jihadists have taken advantage of.
Save the Children reported that the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Welfare says that the number of children forced to leave Cabo Delgado because of the fighting has gone from 370,000 to over 400,000.
The United States designated the militants as “global terrorists” and ISIS-Mozambique in March 2021, and some people think that IS and Washington may be planning a proxy war in that nation.
According to the BBC, at least 24 nations have sent troops to Mozambique to assist in the fight against insurgents. People have said that Mozambique’s army is corrupt and that it pays salaries to 7,000 “ghost soldiers” who have never gone to military school or served in a military unit.
According to the ICC, “jihadist militants started in the Cabo-Delgado province in 2017, winning over some residents since they returned government resources to the peasants and committed no atrocities.” But this didn’t last long because IS started killing Christians by setting them on fire and killing them that way.
IS assaulted the hamlet of Citate on January 13 and set fire to 60 houses there. The next day, 20 additional homes were torched in the same village, and on January 18, 200 more homes were burned in Limwalamwala village, according to ICC.
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