Islamic State-backed insurgents killed at least a dozen members of the traditional Naparama militia in the Ancuabe district of Cabo Delgado province on Sunday.
Insurgents clashed with the Naparama in the village of Nacuale, around 20km from Ancuabe district headquarters.
Islamic State (IS) claimed via social media to have killed 12 in the battle and burned three churches, ten homes and two motorbikes.
The statement included pictures allegedly of the slain militiamen, showing at least six dead bodies wearing the red bandanas of the Naparama.
The Naparama traditionally use bladed weapons and bows and arrows instead of guns and rifles, and they take a potion that they believe makes them invulnerable to bullets.
Local sources confirmed there was a clash at Nacuale in which Naparama suffered serious casualties, and reported that insurgents set fire to homes in the surrounding villages of Mehecane and Mucone.
This is the most violent single insurgent attack since Rwandan and Mozambican security forces began an offensive in Macomia district in July, which has caused insurgents to spread out from their heartland in Macomia and led to clashes in neighbouring districts like Ancuabe, Muidumbe and Meluco. While insurgents have spread around more, the offensive has not yet succeeded in clearing them out of Macomia.
IS also claimed to have killed six militia members in the village of Nanoa in Ancuabe district on the same day. One local source also reported a clash between insurgents and Naparama in Nanoa, but said only two were killed.
Insurgents crossed the Montepuez river into Ancuabe on Thursday. The clashes in Nacuale and Nanoa mark the first confirmed insurgent attacks in the district since May.
