Newsdeck

Newsdeck

Suspected jihadists kill 5 in north Mozambique: police

Mozambican forces of the Rapid Intervention Unit (UIR) and the Special Operating Group (GOE) secure a street during the arrest of guards of the oppositional Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) party within a raid of the home of Renamo president Afonso Dhlakama, in Beira, central Mozambique, 09 October 2015. EPA/ANDRE CATUEIRA

Suspected jihadists using knives and machetes killed five people in an area of Mozambique that has been rocked by a spate of attacks blamed on radical Islamists, police said Thursday.

Cabo Delgado, a northern province expected to become the centre of a natural gas industry after several promising discoveries, has seen a string of assaults on security forces and civilians since October.

“There was one more attack (by) the same group that have been attacking the neighbouring villages, (it) attacked a village on Wednesday around 9:00 p.m. and killed five and destroyed houses and left running,” a police source told AFP.

The attackers targeted Namaluco village in the Quissanga district of Cabo Delgado.

Police believe the same group also hacked seven people to death in another village in the region on Tuesday after beheading 10 people in another settlement on May 27.

“The strategy of the group is to attack different villages over several days, confusing the strategic response of government forces,” added the police source. DM

Gallery

Please peer review 3 community comments before your comment can be posted

We would like our readers to start paying for Daily Maverick...

…but we are not going to force you to. Over 10 million users come to us each month for the news. We have not put it behind a paywall because the truth should not be a luxury.

Instead we ask our readers who can afford to contribute, even a small amount each month, to do so.

If you appreciate it and want to see us keep going then please consider contributing whatever you can.

Support Daily Maverick→
Payment options

Become a Maverick Insider

This could have been a paywall

On another site this would have been a paywall. Maverick Insider keeps our content free for all.

Become an Insider

Every seed of hope will one day sprout.

South African citizens throughout the country are standing up for our human rights. Stay informed, connected and inspired by our weekly FREE Maverick Citizen newsletter.