Seven decapitated bodies found in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique

CABO DELGADO, Mozambique

The population of Mucojo, a coastal district of Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, found the decapitated bodies of seven people, including a 3-year-old child, between Thursday and Saturday last week, a local security source told Lusa.

According to information from residents, the first two victims were beheaded in the village of Lumumua, where they were looking for water, another two were killed in Pankoma and the remaining three victims, including a child, were killed in the village of Nagulue, 10 kilometres from the headquarters of the administrative post of Mucojo.

All are suspected to have been victims of rebels, members of the armed insurgency in the region, which since July has been losing ground to military forces.

Some militiamen who are in the area went to the places and reported that the bodies found in Nagule were already very decomposed.

Cabo Delgado province is rich in natural gas but has been terrorized since 2017 by armed rebels, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.

The conflict has led to more than 3,100 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project, and more than 817,000 displaced people, according to Mozambican authorities.

Since July, an offensive by government troops with support from Rwanda which was later joined by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) allowed for increased security, recovering several areas where there was rebel presence, including the town of Mocímboa da Praia, which had been occupied since August 2020. - Lusa