Mozambique: Islamist militants behead over 50 people in football pitch-turned-execution ground
A football pitch in a village was reportedly turned into an “execution ground”, where the militants decapitated and chopped bodies.
Islamist militants beheaded more than 50 people in northern Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, state media reported. A football pitch in a village was reportedly turned into an “execution ground”, where they decapitated and chopped bodies.
Several people were also beheaded in another village.
Gunmen chanting “Allahu Akbar [God is greatest]” fired shots and set homes on fire when they raided Nanjaba village on Friday night, the state-owned Mozambique News Agency quoted survivors as saying.
Two people were beheaded in the village and several women abducted, the news agency added.
A separate group of militants carried out another attack on Muatide village, where they beheaded more than 50 people, the news agency reported.
Villagers who tried to flee were caught and taken to the local football ground where they were beheaded and chopped to pieces. The atrocity was carried out from Friday night to Sunday, another news report said.
The gas-rich Cabo Delgado province has been witnessing a series of gruesome attacks since 2017 in which up to 2,000 people have been killed and over 4 lakh have been left homeless.
According to reports, the militants were linked to the Islamic State (IS) group.
The group has exploited poverty and unemployment to recruit youth in their fight to establish Islamic rule in the area. Many locals complain that they have benefited little from the province’s ruby and gas industries.
The latest attack is probably the worst carried out by the militants, said a BBC report.
Source: India Today
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