Twelve headless bodies discovered in pit near Mozambique foreignersâ hotel
Weâre sorry, this service is currently unavailable. Please try again later.
Dismiss
By Roland Olyphant and Peta Thornycroft
April 9, 2021 â 1.50pm
Save
Normal text size
Advertisement
A mass grave containing the decapitated bodies of at least 12 people has been discovered near a hotel used by foreigners that was overrun by Islamic State militants in Mozambique.
Palma, a coastal town in Mozambiqueâs northern Cabo Delgado province, was attacked by militants wielding machetes, assault rifles and heavy weapons on March 24.
The 12 bodies were found under a large mango tree near the entrance of the Amarula Hotel, an establishment favoured by foreign contractors working on a nearby natural gas project run by the French oil giant Total.
Twelve headless bodies discovered in pit near Mozambique foreigners hotel
theage.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theage.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Twelve headless bodies discovered in pit near Mozambique foreigners hotel
brisbanetimes.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from brisbanetimes.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
6 April 2021 13:48 GMT Updated 6 April 2021 13:48 GMT in London
Mozambique’s Defence & Security Forces (FDS) have “completely” retaken control of Palma, near Total’s Afungi liquefied natural gas construction site, having “cleansed” the town of Islamist insurgents, according to an FDS spokesman.
If the claim is true, it ends an 11-day reign of terror and brutality by militants who attacked Palma in Cabo Delgado province on 24 March, killing locals and foreigners alike, causing some at least 11,000 people to flee for their lives into the bush and beyond, and forcing Total to evacuate almost all workers from Afungi.
Upstream was told on 3 April that Total staff had been pulled out of Afungi entirely and that no workers were on site.
Regional leaders will meet in Maputo this week to discuss a proposal to counter the rapidly growing Islamic State-linked insurgency in Mozambique’s northernmost Cabo Delgado province.
The region has been stalling in its response for many months but was finally jolted into belated action by the major insurgent attack and capture of the coastal town of Palma near the Tanzanian border which began on 24 March.
The attack prompted an international consortium headed by the French energy giant Total to withdraw all its personnel and suspend operations at the Afungi liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing plant which it is building 12km from Palma.