– Simultaneous raids were also reported in villages across Macomia, Muidumbe, and Ancuabe, with fresh cases of beheadings
– Defence and Security Forces and Rwandan troops unable to contain the spread of attacks
By MOZTIMES
Maputo (MOZTIMES) – Insurgents affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) carried out one of the boldest attacks since 2024 in Cabo Delgado last Thursday (24 July), temporarily occupying the administrative post of Chiúre Velho and raising the IS flag at the local police station.
The assault began around 11 a.m., when Islamist militants stormed the compound of the administrative post and set fire to public infrastructure, including a school, a health unit, and the police station. A video released on Saturday (26 July) by the IS propaganda agency AMAQ shows a group of about 10 insurgents storming the police station, torching a vehicle, and three of them raising the IS flag at the station’s entrance.
The Chiúre Velho attack is regarded as the most audacious since May 2024, when the same group attacked the district headquarters of Macomia, looted assets from non-governmental organisations, and kidnapped humanitarian workers to demand ransom. Chiúre Velho lies in the far south of Cabo Delgado province, bordering Eráti district in Nampula province.
The insurgents' movement southward took place over the week, with successive attacks reported in villages in the districts of Macomia and Ancuabe, culminating in the assault on Chiúre. The group reportedly encountered no significant resistance from either Mozambique’s Defence and Security Forces or Rwandan troops stationed in the region, including in Ancuabe district.
A Week of Raids and the Return of Beheadings
During the same week leading up to the Chiúre Velho attack, insurgents launched multiple assaults across central and southern Cabo Delgado, including the beheading of five individuals on the morning of Tuesday (22 July) along the Muaguide River in Intutupue village, Ancuabe district.
According to local accounts, the victims were caught producing a homemade alcoholic drink, nipa, a practice deemed sinful by the Islamist insurgents.
The mutilated bodies were discovered by villagers who had gone to purchase the drink and stumbled upon the scene with decapitated corpses. One local who took part in the burial in a mass grave stated: “They had been brewing nipa for four days and were almost finished. These were the final steps before taking the product to the village.”
The victims were buried on Wednesday (23 July) at the same production site. The following day, IS propaganda outlet Al-Naba published images of the beheadings, describing the victims as “five captured Christian infidels”.
In the early hours of Thursday (24 July), at around 4 a.m., a joint force of the Mozambican Defence Armed Forces (FADM) and the Local Force militia repelled an attempted insurgent incursion into Chitunda village, in Muidumbe district. According to local sources, the government forces had prepared a response after the burning of Magaia village the previous afternoon.
“When we heard yesterday that Magaia village was burning, we all went on alert. That night, Local Force members went door-to-door telling people not to go to the farms the next day, because something would happen. And today, at 4 a.m., we started hearing heavy gunfire,” a resident of Chitunda recounted.
However, in the south, where the Local Force has little presence, insurgents carried out successful raids with minimal opposition. On Saturday (26 July), the same group that attacked Chiúre Velho struck again, this time targeting the villages of Ntonhane and Maririni, also in Chiúre district. In Ntonhane, a civilian was beheaded for being intoxicated, which, according to the Islamist fighters, violates sharia.
The attacks triggered mass internal displacement, with thousands fleeing Chiúre Velho and surrounding communities. Although the government deployed military and militia reinforcements to the area, Chiúre Velho remains largely deserted. Motorcycle taxi drivers and civilians are banned from using the road connecting Chiúre Velho to the district headquarters.
Also on Saturday (26 July), insurgents invaded the village of Cobre, in the administrative post of Quiterajo, Macomia district. An improvised explosive device (IED) struck a military vehicle between the villages of Nakutuco and Nambija, along the road leading to the Mucojo post. No fatalities were reported.
Despite ongoing joint operations by Mozambican and Rwandan forces, insurgent attacks continue to spread across the province, just as TotalEnergies is expected to announce the lifting of the force majeure and the resumption of its US$20 billion natural gas project in Palma district, northern Cabo Delgado. (MT)
