Mozambique: Governement forces kill 36 terrorists in Palma

By Jorge Joaquim

Mozambique’s Defence and Security Forces say that they have killed 36 insurgents during the terrorist attack on the town of Palma, at the Afungi peninsula in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, home to the site of French multinational Total’s natural gas project.

The forces added that the number might be higher, as the terrorists collected their casualties quickly. The attackers invaded the town on 24 March killing an unknown number of people.

"Up to this moment we have confirmed 36, but the number might be higher” Brigadier Vidigal Chongo told journalists in Palma on Sunday. “The terrorists have a tactic that they use. The first thing when they are dead is to quickly gather their victims to the rear" he added.

Chongo highlighted that the work of clearing the entire perimeter of the town had ended, and that they were now moving on to the phase of recovering the population that had fled to the forests.

He added that it was a critical phase which would require a lot of attention from the Mozambique’s Defence and Security Forces, so as not to allow terrorists to mix with the population and create more disturbances in the town.

The attacks come after Total removed its entire workforce from the site, leaving it in the hands of the FDS. Currently, there are around 30,000 refugees in Afungi.