ISIS brags of ‘killing Christians’ in Mozambique massacre as tales of horror from the attack emerge including a baby shot as his mother carried him to safety by Charlotte Mitchell
The Islamic State has bragged of ‘killing dozens of Mozambican armed forces and the Christians’ in a days-long assault near a major gas plant in the country’s northeast.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement issued by its Amaq news agency on Monday alongside a photo of militants from the group celebrating the capture of the town of Palma.
Scores of people have been killed, including one British contractor, and dozens of expats remain unaccounted for following the attack, which began last Wednesday.
A contractor from Somerset who worked at a hotel in the area is among the missing and a friend has said he fears he has been killed.
Philip Mawer has not been seen or heard from since gunmen ambushed a convoy of vehicles fleeing a hotel on Friday.
His friend Peter Zweemer told The Sun that the French oil giant Total, whose employees Mawer was reportedly helping to build a camp for left its workers to be ‘slaughtered’.
‘As far as I know and from eye witness accounts, unfortunately, we have to assume Phil got killed Friday.
‘There is still no access into Palma to recoup bodies or asses damages and missing people do appear under the most amazing circumstances but I’m afraid the news about Phil is not encouraging.
‘It’s a shambles and they allowed these contractors to be slaughtered.’
Tales of horror began to emerge on Tuesday as some survivors made it to safety and established contact with loved ones.
A small UN plane carrying adults and children – including an injured one-year-old baby – arrived on Monday at the airport in Pemba, the provincial capital where many survivors have been evacuated to.
According to Portugal’s Lusa news agency, a bullet hit the baby’s leg while he was in his mother’s arms as they ran from the rebels.
ISIS has alleged that 55 people have been killed but this has not been independently verified.
A South African private security firm has been hired by the government to battle the militants and search for survivors of the brutal assault, which has left streets and beaches strewn with decapitated bodies.
Lionel Dyck, who runs the Dyck Advisory Group, told The Times that his staff have been collecting survivors and dead bodies while exchanging gunfire with insurgents.
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