Durban - At least 50 people were beheaded and dismembered in Cabo Delgado, in northern Mozambique over the past three days.
According to news channel, Al Jazeera, the brutal massacre was carried out by ISIL-linked militants who attacked several villages in Miudumbe and Macomia. Women and children were also abducted and several homes burnt down.
During a media briefing on Monday, Mozambique police commander general, Bernardino Rafael, said they (militants) burned the houses and then went after people who had flocked to the woods and continued their violent assault.
Al Jazeera reported that the unrest has killed more than 2000 people since 2017 – more than half of them civilians, according to the US-based Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.
The violent attacks in Cabo Delgado have triggered a humanitarian crisis with more than 300 000 internally displaced people and 712 000 in need of humanitarian assistance, according to an Amnesty International report released last month.
On Friday, gunmen fired shots and set homes alight during a raid in Nanjaba village.
Two people were beheaded and women were abducted.
According to reports, in April, militants killed and beheaded more than 50 youths who allegedly refused to join them.
IOL