“On the beach there are bodies with and without heads”: an Islamist attack on a city in Mozambique leaves dozens dead

After days of siege by hundreds of Islamist militants in the city of Palma, in the north of Mozambique, the details and the first death figures are beginning to be known.

Dozens have died in the attack, according to a spokesman for the African country’s Defense Department.

Seven people died trying to escape from a hotel where dozens more were besieged for days, official Omar Saranga said.

Hundreds more, both local and foreign, were rescued.

The area has been under attack by Islamist militants since Wednesday. Witnesses have recounted how they hid while waiting to be rescued by a boat on a beach where bodies without heads lay.

Websites that track maritime traffic show a group of vessels near Palma and the port of Pemba, in the south, while people tried to escape by any means: freighters, passenger ships, tugboats or pleasure boats.

What is known about the rescue

A contractor told the BBC that many escaped from the hotel, hiding on the beach on Friday night and were evacuated by boat on Saturday.

Then more people were rescued and more boats were expected to return to save more people.

“Local people and local businesses are heroes in this whole operation. They managed to coordinate the rescue, reach the evacuees on the beach, put them on the boats and put us to safety, “he said.

“Where the hell was the support from the big companies, from the countries?” He wondered.

“Running for life”

Adrian Nel, a South African national, was killed while trying to escape, his mother, Meryl Knox, told the BBC.

Her husband, Gregory, was able to escape Palma, although Knox told AFP that Gregory had to carry the body of his dead son until he was rescued.

The other son of the couple also managed to escape.

Once they fled, Knox told the BBC, “there was no army to protect them, it was a matter of running for their lives.”

“This could have been avoided and my son could still be alive today.”

A source close to the rescue operation told AFP that a boat with about 1,400 people arrived on Sunday at the port of Pemba, about 250 km south of Palma.

Humanitarian agencies said other small boats packed with people were on their way to Pemba and are expected to arrive in the next few hours.

What is the situation in Palma now

The number of victims is unknown in Palma, a city of about 75,000 inhabitants in the province of Cabo Delgado.

In the city and the beaches there were bodies scattered “with and without heads,” according to the colonel. Lionel Dyke, whose private security company, Dyck Advisory Group, is hired by the Mozambican police in the area.

The armed group is reported to have taken control of Palma, but the information is difficult to verify due to the blackout in communications.

When the attack began on Wednesday the offensive focused on stores, banks and military barracks.

Hundreds of people fled and hid in nearby forests or villages.

Palma is close to a large gas project led by the French energy giant Total.

More than 100 workers and civilians took refuge in the hotel Amarula.

The testimonies about the beheading of minors are repeated in several displaced families. (Getty Images).

Some tried to escape in a convoy of vehicles to reach the nearby beach.

At least 20 people were rescued by helicopters, but others were victims of an ambush leaving the hotel.

Northern Mozambique has been in conflict over the insurgency since 2017.

Militants linked to Islamic State They are behind the conflict in Cabo Delgado, a predominantly Muslim region.

The fighting has left more than 2,500 dead and 700,000 displaced.