Boat carrying survivors from Mozambique militant attack on gas town arrives in Pemba (updated)
01/04/2021 14:38
(Adds detail about British death)
PEMBA, April 1 (Reuters) - A boat carrying more than 1,000
survivors of a highly organised, deadly attack by Islamic
State-linked insurgents in northern Mozambique arrived in the
port of Pemba on Thursday, a Reuters reporter and a diplomatic
source said.
Aid workers were at the crowded port to give food to those
disembarking from the green and white ferry, while police and
soldiers kept control of crowds of people excited to see their
relatives rescued after the attack that began last week in
Palma, the reporter said.
Islamist insurgents have been increasingly active in the
surrounding province of Cabo Delgado since 2017, although it is
unclear whether they have a unified aim or what specifically
they are fighting for.
The district where Palma is located is adjacent to natural
gas projects worth $60 billion. It is home to around 110,000
people according to United Nations estimates, of whom more than
40,000 sought shelter there after fleeing other attacks
elsewhere.
Aid groups believe the attack has displaced tens of
thousands of people, many of whom fled into dense forest or
attempted to escape by sea. Hundreds, including many foreign
workers, have been evacuated by air. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2LT1WV
The fighting was continuing as recently as Tuesday, said
security sources involved in rescue efforts and the U.N., while
Portugal is reportedly ready to send 60 soldiers to help train
armed forces in Cabo Delgado. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2LS1GR
British national Philip Mawer, who has been missing since
the attack last week, likely died while trying to escape a
besieged hotel in Palma, a statement issued on behalf of his
family said.
Reuters has not been able to independently verify the
accounts from the town. Most means of communication were cut off
after the attack began last Wednesday. Phone calls to
Mozambique's government and security officials went unanswered
on Thursday.
The ferry docked at around 8 a.m. local time (0600 GMT) in
Pemba, the provincial capital of Cabo Delgado.
A diplomatic source with direct knowledge of the rescue
operation said there were roughly 1,200 people on board,
including 300 children and 400 women. The source said all those
on board were people displaced by the violence.
An official at the International Committee of the Red Cross
said the government was screening those arriving at Pemba to
prevent infiltration by armed groups.
Mozambique's government has confirmed dozens of deaths in
Palma, including at least seven killed when militants ambushed
vehicles trying to escape the Amarula Hotel in Palma. One South
African is confirmed to have died as a result.
British national Mawer was likely also killed in the
incident, his employer RA International RAI.L said in a
statement on behalf of his family, adding a body matching his
description had been recovered but not formally identified.
"The family is devastated by the loss," the statement said,
describing him as an outgoing character.
However, the full scale of the casualties and displacement
remains unclear.
As of Wednesday afternoon, a U.N. migration agency tracker
showed more than 8,100 people had been displaced, almost half of
them children. Roughly 20% had arrived in Pemba, with others
turning up in the districts of Mueda, Montepuez and Nangade in
Cabo Delgado.
(Reporting by Emidio Jozine in Pemba and Emma Rumney in
Johannesburg; Additional reporting by Manuel Mucari in Maputo,
Alexander Winning in Johannesburg, Wendell Roelf in Cape Town
and David Lewis in Nairobi; Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo
and Hugh Lawson)
((alexander.winning@tr.com; +27 10 346 1076))