In Mozambique’s war-torn city of Palma, 12 people believed to be foreigners were found beheaded after a Daesh-alleged attack on the city, a local police chief told state television station TVM. The news comes when South African leaders will meet in Mozambique’s capital Maputo on Thursday to discuss ways to respond to extremist rebels.
The police chief, Pedro da Silva, told reporters visiting the city that he could not be sure of the nationalities of the 12 people, but he thought they were foreigners because they were white.
“They were tied up and beheaded here,” he said in TVM movies broadcast on Wednesday, pointing to patches of disturbed soil.
The TVM footage was taken outside the Amarula hotel, where a large group, including foreigners and locals, were besieged by insurgents in the days after the attack, Reuters reported.
National Police spokesman Orlando Mudumane said he had seen the film but could not confirm the contents, and that they were investigating.
The group seeking refuge in the Amarula hotel tried to escape in a car convoy on March 26 but were ambushed just outside the gates. Seven were killed, the government said. It included a British man and a South African. Their bodies have already been removed from Palma.
More than 2,600 people have been killed and 670,000 displaced since the insurgency began in 2017, creating a massive humanitarian crisis, according to UN agencies.
Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi, at a national address, said his government had asked for help from neighboring countries and other international powers, but did not want to jeopardize its sovereignty.
Nyusi announced on Wednesday that government forces have regained control of the northern city of Palma, after a long battle with the rebels. More than 100 of the well-armed rebels attacked Palma on March 24 and held more than half of the strategic center for more than ten days.
“The terrorists have been expelled from Palma. We do not intend to declare victory because we are in an ongoing fight against terrorism, but we are confident that if we are united, we will win,” Nyusi said, speaking in Portuguese in state. media. .
At least 50 people were killed, including several who were beheaded, in the rebels’ attack on Palma and thousands fled the port city, which had more than 70,000 inhabitants before the rebel attack.
The leaders of Botswana, Malawi, South Africa and Tanzania are expected in Maputo for the summit, the second since November last year, The Associated Press (AP) reported.
They represent the South African Development Community of 16 nations, known as the SADC, which has been criticized for failing to agree on previous measures to combat Mozambique’s crisis, which threatens to spread instability in the region.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is accompanied by his defense, intelligence and foreign ministers.
“SADC is deeply concerned about the continuing terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado, especially for the lives and welfare of its residents who continue to suffer the horrific, brutal and indiscriminate abuses,” Ramaphosa spokeswoman Tyrone Seale said in a statement on Thursday.
Last week, South Africa sent military personnel to evacuate its citizens captured in Palma. The South African forces also carried back the remains of Adrian Nel, a South African who was killed in the attack. According to local reports, he has been doing contract work in Palma since January.
The rebel attack on Palma led the French oil and gas giant Total to completely withdraw its staff and close its multi-million dollar investment a few kilometers from Palma.
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