Witnesses said they had seen bodies in the streets after insurgents – believed to be affiliated with the Islamic State terrorist group – attacked Palma from three directions, Human Rights Watch said on Saturday.
The city is close to a large liquefied natural gas project managed by the French company Total. The attack came hours after the government of Mozambique and Total announced the resumption of operations on the vast Afungi project, north of Palma, where work had been suspended since January after a series of insurgent attacks. .
CNN’s video on Thursday shows that helicopters – flown by government-deployed military contractors – flew over hotel accommodation to try to secure an escape route for dozens of people who had fled while the operation was underway. ‘attack.
Among the people visible in the video from the hotel grounds, at least 20 appeared to be foreign workers.
In another video obtained by CNN, a Mozambican who was also trapped in the hotel in Palma described the situation as “critical”, saying that “we have no food, we only have water”.
In the video recorded on Thursday, he said: “Since yesterday we have been attacked … We have been under crossfire for 24 hours.
“We don’t know how we will get out of here. We will be evacuated, but we don’t know when, at what time, how and by whom,” he added.
“Helicopters are circling the Hotel Amarula area to make sure the roads are free to reach the beach, but as you can hear, we don’t know if this will be possible. The situation is critical. We don’t food. We only have water “. As he spoke, helicopters could be heard in the background.
The Portuguese Foreign Ministry confirmed that one of its nationals was injured in a rescue operation in the region, Portuguese news agency LUSA reported on Saturday.
A journalist working with CNN in Mozambique said at least some of those trapped were able to reach the town of Pemba in a convoy on Friday.
Dewa Mavhinga, director of Human Rights Watch (HRW) South Africa, said the militants had “shot at civilians in their homes and on the streets of Palma as they tried to flee for their lives”.
HRW said it reached several civilians by phone before communications with the city were cut off on Thursday.
A witness was quoted as saying, “People were running and shouting, ‘Al-Shabaab is here … It’s Al-Shabaab … They’re killing everyone.’
The insurgents are known locally as “Shabaab”, but have no ties to the Somali group of the same name. The full name of the group is Ahl al-Sunnah wa al Jamma’ah (ASWJ), and it was formally joined in the Central African province declared by the Islamic State last year. Earlier this month, the United States designated the group as a terrorist organization called “ISIS-Mozambique.”
Two hotel workers told HRW that gunmen had shot at people and buildings, including the hotel.
An audio recording received by someone on CNN Thursday at the hotel also included loud shots.
The Mozambican Defense Ministry said on Thursday that an army operation was underway to restore security in Palma, but that it has not provided any further updates.
It is unknown if the insurgents still control the city. On Friday, a security source with direct knowledge of the facts told CNN that Mozambican militants were probably still operating in the area.
The source said fierce fighting between insurgents and Mozambican forces and police lasted for hours, with private contractors providing an air engagement with helicopters to push insurgent forces out of the city center.
The insurgents attacked military and police facilities and robbed two city banks on Wednesday night and set them on fire, the source said.
“Meticulous planning” by the insurgents
Jasmine Opperman, a security analyst who writes a weekly summary of events in Cabo Delgado, said the attack had demonstrated “meticulous planning” by insurgents.
Even before the assault on Palma, the city was inaccessible by road due to insecurity along the route to the south, causing food shortages in the area.
Alexandre Raymakers, a senior African analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, told CNN that the assault on Palma was a “major setback for the government, especially after the announcement of Total, and seriously calls into question its ability to achieving LNG projects vital to the country’s long-term financial prosperity. “
Raymakers said “Total’s decision to resume construction depended on Maputo guaranteeing a 25-kilometer security perimeter around the Afungi peninsula, which would include Palma.”
In August last year, ASWJ organized a large-scale assault on the port of Mocimboa da Praia and continued to occupy the area despite government efforts to retake it.
ASWJ has made large parts of Mozambique’s northernmost province, Cabo Delgado, inaccessible and insecure, as its attacks have grown in scope and sophistication since 2017.
Raymakers says “ASWJ’s war capacity, command and control and overall confidence have grown enormously in the last year.”
Fighting between the group and government forces has left more than 1,500 civilians dead and more than 600,000 displaced, according to HRW.
Tim Lister reported from Spain, Estacio Valoi from Maputo, Mozambique and Isa Soares from London. David McKenzie contributed to the notification.