Mozambique police confirm beheading of 50 people by Islamist militants: Report

More than 50 people have been killed by Islamist militants in the past few days in Cabo Delgado province of Mozambique. According to DW news, local media and police have blamed militants linked to Islamic State for attacks on several villages in the recent past, which saw the abduction of women and children and beheading of more than 50 people. The militants reportedly attacked villages before driving people out in the open and decapitating their bodies. 

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The Police informed that the militants set several houses on fire and when residents of the villagers fled into the wood, they traced them down and gruesomely killed anyone who was caught. One of the witnesses told local media that the militants gathered villagers in a football field and then murdered them. 

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Insurgency in Cabo Delgado

Unrest in the Cabo Delgado province began three years ago after rebels picked up arms against the government for allegedly ignoring their region. Islamist militants also began exploiting the conflict as they started carrying out brutal attacks and recruiting more men with an aim to create an Islamic caliphate, like the one formed in Baghdad in 2014, which has now been destroyed by Iraqi and allied forces. 

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According to reports, 50 young men were beheaded in April this year by Islamist militants for refusing to join them in their mission to create the Islamic State. The insurgency in the northern part of the country is mainly being led by Ansar al-Sunna, which is a native version of the Islamic State. However, several reports also indicate that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant  (ISIL) is also active in the region. As per reports, over 1,000 people have been killed in the conflict since 2019, while more than 1,00,000 have been displaced. 

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(Image Credit: AP)