Islamist Militants Attack Civilians In Protest Over Natural Gas Project

Roughly 60 people are reportedly missing following a convoy seeking to escape Mozambique was attacked by Islamic militants. The unrest is said to be caused by protests on a multi-million liquefied natural gas project run by French energy company Total. Such has led to five days of fighting so far.

According to the Guardian, as many as 60 people that included foreign citizens are left unaccounted in a deadly ambush to a convoy trying to get out of the area. Of the 17 vehicles that tried to seek safety, only 7 were able to escape following the attacks that happened on Friday. Seven are confirmed dead and scores injured. People who were in the other unaccounted vehicles have reportedly been assumed dead.

“The other 10 vehicles never made it through. They are unaccounted for and are basically all assumed dead,” an unnamed contractor said.

The convoy was part of efforts to transport workers out of Mozambique. It comes not long after reports of South Africa had planned to send in military forces to rescue civilians left in northern Mozambique. There were an estimated 200 foreign workers at the Hotel Amarula. That included South Africa, Britain and France nationals.

Before resorting to a convoy, efforts were made to escape by sea. The convoy had attempted to reach the coast from the hotel before it got ambushed.

As of this writing, some of the victims have been identified. This includes Adrian Nel. South African media reports he was killed when he, his father and younger brother joined the convoy that attempted to flee the Amarula Lodge hotel.

“There’s no way to possibly describe what you feel when you get news like that. It’s just devastating, body-numbing, mind-numbing,” the victim’s mother, Meryl Knox, stated.

According to Human Rights groups, witnesses described seeing bodies on the streets and residents fleeing after the … fighters fired indiscriminately at people and buildings. Others reveal that almost the entire town was destroyed in the attack.