Mozambique working to identify beheaded victims of militant attack

MAPUTO, Mozambique

Mozambique is sending a medical team to identify the bodies of 12 people beheaded during an Islamic State attack last month on the northern gas exploration hub of Palma, an army spokesperson said.

A police official and an army spokesman said the victims appeared to be foreigners, although this has not been confirmed.

Palma adjacent to gas projects worth around $60bn (about R872bn) and a base for foreign companies, was the target of an attack by insurgents that began on March 24.

A local police chief told TVM earlier this week that on returning to the town following the assault, he had helped bury 12 beheaded bodies. While he could not identify their nationalities, he said he believed they were foreign because they were white.

In comments to state broadcaster TVM on Thursday, army spokesperson Chongo Vidigal confirmed the victims were white but said their nationalities could not be confirmed due to the decomposed state of the bodies. The army had sent a medical team to identify them, he said.

"It is urgent that a team arrives to establish these small details," he said, adding it was uncertain when they would arrive.