-Folha de Maputo
On March 16, we reported on the Islamic terror attacks in northeastern Mozambique by forces allied with ISIS. There has also been an attack on-going in the town of Palma in the same region with tremendous loss of life.
Getting up-to-date news from Mozambican news sources online is difficult. Here is a more recent update (March 28) in English. The below report is from the Portuguese-language news site Folha de Maputo in Mozambique and is dated March 27. Translation by Fousesquawk.
Human Rights Watch says Al-Shabab targeted civilians in their homes in Palma
March 27, 2021 06:36A
Human Rights Watch (HRW) appealed yesterday to the Mozambican government to take "urgent measures" to protect the population of Palma, targeted in their homes and on the streets by terrorists from Al-Shabab, who caused an indeterminate number of deaths.
Maputo: With an unknown number of people in flight since Wednesday from the town of Palma, northern Mozambique, where this Friday, clashes have occurred for the third day, HRW confirms in a statement that "the Mozambican authorities must act rapidly to protect the civilians and hold those accountable for the abuses."
"Al-Shabab fired on civilians in their homes and on the streets of Palma when they tried to flee to save their lives," said Dewa Mavhinga, director of HRW for Southern Africa.
The attack is the most serious against the gas projects after three and a half years of the armed insurgence, from which the seat of the district had until now been spared.
According to two sources who accompanied the operations, the shots fired in the town and its surroundings between the Mozambican forces and rebel groups continued until the end of yesterday afternoon.
Bodies of murdered adults and children are visible on the streets of Palma, said a resident of Lusa today who, together with others, fled to Quitunda, 4 kilometers southeast of the town, next to the gas works.
.In the statement released Friday, HRW claims have contacted 7 witnesses to the attacks, who also reported that cadavers of the victims of the attacks are visible on the streets.
The NGO stressed that international human rights and humanitarian law applicable in Mozambique prohibit summary, extra-judicial, or arbitrary executions, torture, or other maltreatment of persons in custody.
"The Mozambican authorities must guarantee that the security forces detached to Palma respect the human rights and humanitarian law in treating everyone in their custody with humanity," the communique states.
According to Mavhinga, "the horrible abuses of the armed groups represent a threat to all civilians in the region," he said.
"The Mozambican authorities must make the restoration of security a maximum priority in the province of Cabo Delgado," said the HRW official.
At Lusa, residents in flight said they had seen abandoned bodies of murdered adults and children, two bank agencies destroyed, among other buildings, infrastructure, and vehicles.
Five heavy trucks used for transport from a rock quarry were also destroyed and the drivers dead. The violence is about to provoke a humanitarian crisis with almost 700,000 dislocated and 2,000 dead.
Some of the incursions were claimed by the "jihadist" group, Islamic State, between June 2019 and November 2020, but the origin of the attacks remains in dispute.
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