57 murdered and church damaged in Mozambique
Barnabas Fund, 15 April
Islamist fundamentalists murdered at least 57 people, with a further five deaths unconfirmed, and smashed their way into a church in an upsurge in violence at the beginning of April in Mozambique’s northernmost province of Cabo Delgado, which is Muslim-majority.
On 10 April, militants launched a murderous attack where one person was shot, another burned alive, and three drowned as they tried to escape. About 60 people were taken hostage but released later the same day.
On 9 April, five died in an attack on the Quirimbas archipelago. The terrorists caused severe damage to the local church and destroyed homes of church missionaries.
On 7 April, at least 52 people were massacred in the same area when they refused to join the terrorist group. “The criminals tried to recruit young people to join their ranks, but there was resistance,” said a police spokesman. “This provoked the anger of the criminals, who indiscriminately killed, cruelly and diabolically, 52 young people.”
The Bishop of Pemba said that Muslims “have, from the beginning, distanced themselves from these attacks and said that those involved are not religious, and are misusing the name of religion to do this,”
Militant Islamist organisation Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jama have effectively gained control of an area of Cabo Delgado.