Sat 27 March 2021:
More than 180 people are trapped inside a hotel in a town in northern Mozambique, as it has been under siege by insurgents for the last three days. Those trapped include expatriate workers.
Militants launched an attack on Wednesday afternoon, forcing locals to flee into surrounding forest areas.
The attacks occurred after French energy giant Total announced that work would gradually resume at the liquified natural gas project. Total is the principal investor in the region, with other firms such as ExxonMobil also involved in the area.
ISIL-linked fighters began a raid on the coastal town on Wednesday afternoon, forcing terrified residents to flee into the surrounding forest as LNG and government workers sought shelter at the Amarula Palma hotel.
“Almost the entire town was destroyed. Many people are dead,” said a worker on the LNG site speaking on the phone Friday evening after he was evacuated to Afungi.
An unverified video on social media showed an unidentified man filmed the hotel lobby showing several people milling around the patio. He described the situation in Palma as “critical” and added, “We don’t know if we will be rescued.”
He said the hotel had run out of food but still had water. The buzzing of a chopper could be heard in the background.
“These people didn’t need to die. The whole international community has to take responsibility for this,” said an angry security analyst. “They had three days to respond and no one did. These people died for no reason.
Jasmine Opperman, Africa analyst at the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) agreed. She tweeted, “Why in God’s name was no action taken in response to early warning intelligence. It’s a disgrace.”
Why in God’s name was no action taken in response to early warning intelligence? It’s a disgrace. https://t.co/ZQuRn0GwZB andhttps://t.co/FKbU92paw6 all reactive in the shadow of tragedy.
— Jasmine Opperman (@Jasminechic00) March 26, 2021
It is not clear if the attack on Palma was in response to the return of the French energy corporation Total, which is taking the lead in exploiting the vast Rovuma offshore natural gas reserves off Cabo Delgado. Total is building its gas processing plant at Afungi which is just 15kms from Palma. Total withdrew from the area in December because of attacks by insurgents near its facilities.
Mozambique (Palma)
1) Was the assault in reply to the Total press release? No – the attack showed meticulous planning, which makes a prompt reaction decidedly implausible. pic.twitter.com/j9LhX2T3Bt— Jasmine Opperman (@Jasminechic00) March 27, 2021
On Wednesday this week, it announced it would “progressively resume construction activities at the Afungi site, following the implementation of additional site security measures.” Within hours the insurgents had launched a full-scale attack at Palma, though it seems that they did not attack Afungi.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to attend an urgent meeting this afternoon about the situation, News24 reported
On Friday night, South Africa’s international relations and cooperation department spokesperson Lunga Ngqengelele said he had confirmed the situation “through our mission in Mozambique and the department was “providing consular services to the distressed South Africans while it continues to monitor the situation”.
Armed fighters affiliated with ISIL have raided villages and towns across the province, causing nearly 700,000 to flee their homes.
In a statement Friday, the US embassy in Maputo condemned the attack on Palma, pledging its commitment “to working with the government of Mozambique to counter violent extremism”.
-with agencies | FILE PHOTO
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