ISIS attacks gas stronghold, dozens of foreigners go missing

France and South Africa are analyzing the sending of special forces to save those who are still hiding there. They all worked in Afungi, on a liquefied gas platform belonging to the French company Total, which had just reopened, believing that the Islamist insurgency had withdrawn.

Argentines in Cabo Delgado

So far, no Argentinian or Latin American has been identified among the victims, in enormous confusion and panic. There is an Argentine Embassy in Maputo, headed by Chargé d’Affaires Andres Venta Frida. Only 4 Argentines live in the province of Cabo Delgado but far from Palma and the majority work in humanitarian organizations.

In a statement on Telegram, ISIS announced Monday “that it has taken control of the city of Palma”.

The group said it “targeted military installations and government headquarters”. He announced “the takeover of the city and the death of dozens of Mozambican army soldiers and Christians, including citizens of the Crusader states”.

How was the attack

The Islamist attack began on Wednesday from three sides in Palma, the predominantly Muslim city and in the area of ​​Cabo Delgado province, where the civil war had previously taken place.

they attacked businesses, banks and military installations. Foreign entrepreneurs took refuge in the hotel Amarula Palma Lodge, where the workers and contractors of the gas plant lived.

There were a lot of foreigners in Palma because more accommodation was organized at the Total plant due to the re-establishment of gas activities, a billion dollar company for the country, rich in oil and mineral resources, and which attracts all multinationals.

Many security companies hired by Total and its subcontractors operate in the area and have tried to save the workers.

The first rescue was initiated by South African helicopters Dyck Advisory Group, with mercenaries from this country, responsible for the security of the factory and the area, at the request of the Mozambican government. But IS fighters fired at them and the operation was halted due to lack of logistics and ammunition. Alone 25 people they managed to flee. The remaining refugees were left at the mercy of ISIS and their plight.

Most foreigners hoped they could be saved by ships from the platform but was unable to approach the beach due to jihadist fire.

“They were panicking that they wouldn’t survive another night. No one was coming looking for them,” said Johann Anderson, who communicated with the group from the Total site.

Refugees at the hotel

In desperation, no weapons, more ammunition and more hope, he organized a convoy of cars from the hotel to flee. ISIS was waiting for them and shot the drivers. Only seven of the 17 vehicles managed to escape. Of the other 60 to 100 people its destination is unknown.

“It is not known whether they died, were kidnapped or hid in the jungle,” admitted a Maputo security source. “

“Seven people were killed trying to escape from the site to the hotel,” said Omar Saranga, a spokesperson for the Maputo defense department. The army and the police have been overwhelmed by jihadists.

Human Rights Watch assured that witnesses describe “bodies in the streets and residents fleeing as combatants indiscriminately shoot people and buildings ”.

The Mozambican soldiers were completely overwhelmed and they could not take care of their wounded and dead. Palma was destroyed and devastated by the attack.

The convoy

As in these dramatic situations, a plan was organized to leave the hotel, in a convoy. Between 60 and 100 people chose to board 17 vehicles before dark on Friday. Around 100 stayed in the hotel. ISIS fighters shot the cars as soon as they came out, especially the drivers. Only seven made it through the fire barrier and there were some among them foreigners and Mozambicans.

“After that, they all fought on their own,” said Anderson, 60. Only seven vehicles passed through the insurgents, who were already able to shoot at the drivers. We know that several occupants died. The fate of those who traveled in the other cars and those who remained at the shelter is unknown.

A British entrepreneur was killed while trying to flee an attack by militant Islamists. Adrian Neil, a 40-year-old South African, suffered the same fate. It was told by his mother, Meryl Knox from Cape Town. Her brother and stepfather survived and travel to South Africa with the body. They were building facilities for the workers at the gas plant. Adrian led the convoy to escape.

Heroes of the sea

Some foreigners managed to escape at night from the hotel to the beach, where they were rescued by local boats, which took them to Pemba. A town 250 kilometers from Palma, on Sunday afternoons. But there was no police or army to protect them.

Other survivors managed to escape into the jungle, which borders the sea, to nearby plantations and towns. There, extraordinary stories of courage and heroism emerged from the local population, who organized the rescue by sea regardless of nationality.

Fishing boats, yachts, excursion boats, motor boats were used overloaded to escape hell. It was local businesses, traders, fishermen who organized this rescue, helping foreigners and inhabitants hidden in the jungle.

The city of Palma and the beach is the image of hell. The bodies are where they fell, in the street, at the door of the houses. Many beheaded, others killed with machetes. Men, women and children have been killed after the ISIS operation went house to house.

How were they saved

Among the saved, there are Nick Alexander, An Anglo-South African national and former police officer, who shot dead two activists and spent two nights with his colleagues, crawling through jungle bushes before his rescue on Sunday. Alexander saw a military tank stolen by the jihadists with an AKA 47 on the roof. He ran towards him, grabbed the weapon, killed two fighters and took refuge in the jungle, from where he was rescued.

The former policeman was in the back of the convoy, which was pulled over on Friday night as they fled the hotel complex. Alexander, a contractor who builds camps for staff working at the $ 20 billion gas site, contacted his 29-year-old daughter Jayde in Johannesburg on Sunday.

“He saw the commotion with the ambush and got out,” Jayde said. “There was a government vehicle with an AK47 inside. So he walked in, took it and shot dead two of the Al-Shabaab, the jihadist militants. He and two other people from the car ran to hide in the bushes with the guns. They literally crawled through the bushes until they were rescued, ”her daughter said.

Phil Mawer, a catering service provider from Somerset, Great Britain, is still missing.

At least 60 expatriates are still missing in the city, 10 kilometers from Africa’s largest gas project, where battles continue between government forces and fighters linked to the Islamic State.

The palm in the hands of the jihadists

The first expat deaths since the insurgency began four years ago in northern Mozambique have alarmed Western governments and put pressure on president Philip Nyusi.

South Africa is debating the advisability of intervening militarily as in France, which has special forces at its bases in Djibouti and Mali.

French oil giant Total said it was suspending operations at the site, the largest investment in Africa, which had offered hope to one of the countries. the poorest in the world.

Security analysts had predicted an attack on Palma. The city had long been isolated by militants, leaving its population of 75,000 and a large immigrant community vulnerable.

The jihadist insurgency

Mozambique’s Islamist insurgents are active in Cabo Delgado province since 2017, but the attacks have become more brutal since last year.

These three years of insurrection, led by young unemployed Muslims and without a future, it claimed the lives of 2,600 people and displaced 670,000 people, according to the UN.

The jihadists finance themselves by trafficking rubies and precious woods in a province where 58% are Muslims and very illiterate.

They reject the presence of French and American companies in the region. But this has been his most spectacular action, which will scare away multinational investments from Mozambique.

The death and unknown fate of dozens of expatriates hired for the biggest individual investment in Africa could finally force the Mozambican president to admit that the insurgency in the far north of his country he’s out of control.

Paris, correspondent

ap