Mozambican Christian Communities Have Been Targeted, According to the Islamic State
At least eight people were slain, including by beheading, and numerous homes were torched in a series of raids on Christian communities in Mozambique, for which the Islamic State has claimed credit.
Between May 23 and May 31, assaults occurred in six Christian communities in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique’s northernmost region. According to U.S.-based persecution monitor International Christian Concern, the terrorist organization subsequently shared pictures of six beheaded victims and images of the torched communities.
According to the International Criminal Court, four of the dead were Christians, and hundreds more Christians in Mozambique have been slaughtered or displaced by the Islamic State and its associate organizations.
Save the Children said in a statement that between June 2 and June 9, a fresh wave of violent assaults attacked the Ancuabe region of Cabo Delgado, displacing approximately 10,000 people and leaving at least four people dead.
Since the beginning of the civil war in October 2017, more than 4,000 people have been killed and 800,000 have been displaced from their homes. The BBC reports that this is despite the fact that Cabo Delgado is rich in gas, rubies, graphite, gold, and other natural resources, but the profits go to an elite in the ruling party, Frelimo, and few jobs have been created.
According to the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Welfare, the number of children displaced as a result of the war in Cabo Delgado has risen from 370,000 to over 400,000. This is according to Save the Children.
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According to a report from March 2021, the United States officially designated the militants as “global terrorists” and “ISIS-Mozambique,” leading some to speculate that IS and the United States are planning a proxy war in Mozambique.
According to the BBC, at least 24 nations have dispatched troops to Mozambique to aid in the war against terrorists. This comes after the Mozambican army was accused of being corrupt and employing 7,000 “ghost soldiers” who earn wages but have never served in the armed forces.
“In 2017, Islamist terrorists emerged in the Cabo-Delgado province, winning over some residents since they took back resources to communities from the government and murdered no one,” ICC said. However, “this did not continue as IS began torching Christian communities and slaughtering their inhabitants.”
IS assaulted the hamlet of Citate on January 13 and torched 60 houses; the next day, IS burned another 20 homes in Citate, and on January 18, ICC reported that IS had burned 200 homes in the nearby village of Limwalamwala.
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