Mozambique says militants kill 11 in attack near Tanzania border

MAPUTO/DAR ES SALAAM, July 3 (Reuters) - Eleven people were
killed in an attack last week by an Islamist militant armed
group in northern Mozambique near its border with Tanzania,
Mozambican police said on Wednesday.
Several of the attackers from the Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jama (ASWJ)
group were later arrested, police added, referring to a militia
operating in the gas-rich northern province of Cabo Delgado
province since at least 2014.
Six people were wounded in the raid, said Orlando Mudumane,
spokesman for Mozambique Police's General Command, adding that
the arrested gunmen included both Mozambicans and foreigners.
"On 26 of June, 2019, a group of bandits perpetrated an
attack in the village of Itole, in Palma District, killing 11
civilians; 9 Tanzanians and 2 Mozambicans," he said.
He dismissed reports the that deaths were by beheading, a
method of killing used by the group in some previous attacks.
"All of them died of gunshot wounds, no beheadings. The
defence forces combed the area and have already detained some
elements of the group, foreigners and nationals."
Information about the attack has been scarce, with
conflicting accounts from local and international media on the
number of deaths and nature of the attack in the Muslim-majority
region of the southern African nation.
Last week's ambush was the latest in a spate of
execution-style attacks in the area since 2017 that have so far
killed more than 100 people, while forcing hundreds to flee into
the interior. Tanzanian security officials on Saturday also confirmed the
attack and number of deaths, but were unsure of the identity of
the suspects.
"The attack took place on June 26 in Mozambique where the
Tanzanians had gone to work in paddy fields," Tanzania's police
chief Simon Sirro said at a weekend briefing near the border.
"According to eyewitness accounts, unidentified gunmen
raided the paddy farmers and carried out the attack."
Sirro said Tanzanian and Mozambique police had launched a
joint investigation into the incident.
Impoverished Cabo Delgado, surrounded by dense forests and
isolated villages, houses a growing clutch of multinational
companies developing one of the biggest offshore gas finds in a
decade - estimated to be worth at least $30 billion.
Whilst the attacks have mostly targeted civilians and
government buildings, in February U.S. energy giant Anadarko
APC.N said one worker was killed and several others injured in
two attacks near the construction site for its massive liquefied
natural gas (LNG) project in Cabo Delgado. The attacks by the Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jama, or "followers of the
prophetic tradition", have drawn comparisons to Islamist groups
in Tanzania, Somalia, Kenya and the Great Lakes region.
In common with Boko Haram in Nigeria, it touts a radical
form of Islam as an antidote to what it regards as corrupt,
elitist rule that has broadened gaping inequality.