French energy giant Total’s natural gas project in northern Mozambique is now safe from terrorist groups after militants launched deadly attacks on the project, according to local reports quoting a spokesman for Mozambique’s army on Friday.
Authorities have confirmed dozens of deaths in the attack by Daesh-linked terrorists that began last week in the coastal city of Palma, in a district near a billion-dollar gas project designed to change Mozambique’s economy.
The situation around Palma is still very volatile, with insurgents carrying out attacks on two security posts south of the city on Thursday, a source in support of humanitarian organizations in the field told Reuters.
“It is protected … At no time was its integrity at stake,” Radio Mozambique Army spokesman Chongo Vidigal was quoted as saying about Total’s project on the Afungi Peninsula near Palma.
Radio Mozambique added in its report published late on Thursday that the area around the Total Project was patrolled day and night to ward off all threats.
Meanwhile, Total has taken all its staff from its Afungi natural gas project site in northern Mozambique during ongoing clashes, two sources with direct knowledge of Afungi’s website told Reuters
Total, which last week suspended a planned $ 20 billion resumption of construction due to the violence, told Reuters it had no immediate comment. Mozambique’s Ministry of Defense also did not respond to a request for comment.
Aid groups believe that the attack moved tens of thousands of people, many of whom fled to safety in dense forest areas nearby or by boat.
Reuters has not been able to independently verify the accounts from Palma. Most means of communication were suspended after the attack began on March 24.
Terrorists have been increasingly active in the surrounding province of Cabo Delgado since 2017, although it is unclear whether they have a single target or what they are specifically fighting for.
At least 9,150 people have arrived in other districts of Cabo Delgado since the attack began, with thousands more believed to be displaced within the Palma district, the UN said on Friday.
“The new wave of displacement has cleared many people who fled their places of origin due to the conflict in other parts of Cabo Delgado and sought refuge in Palma,” it said, adding that the majority of the displaced are housed by host families.
Total projects are among those worth a total of $ 60 billion that would reshape the economy of the South African country. Mozambique’s gross domestic product was about $ 15 billion in 2019, according to World Bank data.
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