Suspected jihadists hacked seven people to death with machetes and torched dozens of homes early Tuesday in northern Mozambique, police said.
The region, Cabo Delgado province which is expected to become the centre of the country’s nascent natural gas industry after several promising discoveries, has seen a number of deadly assaults on both security forces and civilians since October.
“The bandits used machetes to kill the seven persons. We think this group is likely part of the (one) that beheaded 10 (people on) May 27,” police spokesman Inacio Dina told AFP, referring to an attack last month in the same region that was also blamed on jihadists.
The cell also burnt down 164 houses and destroyed four cars during their assault on the village of Naude in the Macomia district, the spokesman said of the most recent attack.
Dina suggested that the group might also have been linked to the nine “insurgents” killed by security forces over the weekend who were subsequently found to be carrying assault rifles and Arabic-language documents.
“This group is very fragmented in small groups (and) they try to resist police attacks,” he said.
