Witnesses reported seeing bodies on the streets after insurgents – believed to be affiliated with the Islamic State terror group – attacked Palma from three directions, Human Rights Watch said on Saturday.
The city is close to a large liquefied natural gas project carried out by the French company Total. The attack came hours after the Mozambican government and Total announced the resumption of operations on the vast Afungi project – north of Palma – where construction has been suspended since January, after a series of insurgent attacks.
Thursday’s video taken by CNN shows helicopters – piloted by government-hired military personnel – over a hotel in an apparent effort to secure an escape corridor for dozens of people who fled there in the course of the attack.
Among the people visible in the video of the hotel complex, at least 20 appeared to be foreign workers.
In another video obtained by CNN, a Mozambican who was also imprisoned at the Palma hotel described the situation as “critical”, saying “we have no food, we only have water”.
In the video recorded Thursday, he said: “We have been under attack since yesterday … We have been under fire for 24 hours.
“We do not know how we are going to get out of here. We will be evacuated, but we do not know when, at what time, how and by whom,” he added.
“Helicopters are circling the Amarula Hotel area to make sure the roads are clear to reach the beach, but as you can hear, we don’t know if that will be possible. The situation is critical. We don’t have any food. We only have water. “Helicopters could be heard in the background while he spoke.
Itamaraty confirmed that one of its nationals was injured in a rescue operation in the region, Portuguese news agency LUSA reported Saturday.
A journalist working for CNN in Mozambique said that at least some of the prisoners managed to reach the city of Pemba on a train on Friday.
Dewa Mavhinga, director of Southern Africa for Human Rights Watch (HRW), said the militants “shot civilians in their homes and on the streets of Palma while trying to escape to save themselves”.
HRW said it reached several civilians over the phone before communications with the city were interrupted on Thursday.
He quoted a witness as saying “People were running around and shouting ‘Al-Shabaab is here … It’s Al-Shabaab … They are killing everyone.”
The insurgents are known locally as “Shabaab”, but have no ties to the Somali group of the same name. The group’s full name is Ahl al-Sunnah wa al Jamma’ah (ASWJ), and he formally joined the self-declared Islamic State Central African Province last year. Earlier this month, the United States designated the group as a terrorist organization with the name “ISIS-Mozambique”.
Two hotel officials told HRW that gunmen fired on people and buildings, including the hotel.
An audio recording received by CNN from someone at the hotel on Thursday also included heavy shots.
Mozambique’s Ministry of Defense said on Thursday that an army operation to restore security in Palma was underway, but did not provide further updates.
It is not known whether insurgents still control the city. On Friday, a senior security source with direct knowledge of the events told CNN that militants in Mozambique were probably still operating in the area.
The source said the fierce fighting between the insurgents and the Mozambican police and forces lasted for hours, with private contractors providing aerial helicopter engagement to push insurgent forces out of the city center.
Insurgents attacked military and police facilities and robbed two banks in the city during Wednesday night and set them on fire, the source said.
‘Meticulous planning’ by insurgents
Jasmine Opperman, a security analyst who writes a weekly summary of events in Cabo Delgado, said the attack demonstrated “meticulous planning” by insurgents.
Even before the attack on Palma, the city was inaccessible by road due to insecurity along the route to the south, leading to food shortages in the area.
Alexandre Raymakers, Senior Africa Analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, told CNN that the attack on Palma was a “major setback for the government, especially after Total’s announcement, and seriously questions its ability to secure LNG projects vital to financial prosperity. country’s long-term. “
Raymakers said that “Total’s decision to resume construction depended on Maputo ensuring a 25-kilometer safety perimeter around the Afungi peninsula, which would include Palma.”
In August last year, the ASWJ staged a large-scale attack on the port of Mocímboa da Praia and continues to occupy the area, despite government efforts to retake it.
ASWJ has made large parts of the northernmost province of Mozambique, Cabo Delgado, inaccessible and insecure as its attacks have increased in scope and sophistication since 2017.
Raymakers says that “ASWJ’s combat, command and control capabilities and overall confidence have increased tremendously in the past year”.
The fighting between the group and government forces left more than 1,500 civilians dead and more than 600,000 homeless, according to HRW.
Tim Lister reported from Spain, Estácio Valoi reported from Maputo, Mozambique and Isa Soares reported from London. David McKenzie contributed reporting.