Insurgents attacked the villages of Nampanha and Mandela in the Muidumbe district of Cabo Delgado province on 9 and 10 August, beheading at least two civilians and burning potentially dozens of homes.
The first attack took place around the village of Nampanha in the Nambayaya area, approximately 15km from the district capital. A local source told Zitamar that two men were beheaded. News website Carta de Moçambique reported that the insurgent group did not number more than 20 men and that they kidnapped a woman before withdrawing back into the bush.
Insurgents struck again the next day, entering Mandela village about 20km to the south of Nampanha. Residents fled as the armed group set alight to homes, claimed another local source. No deaths were reported but one local militia member was shot in the leg during the attack, according to news agency Lusa.
Islamic State (IS) posted a statement on social media, claiming that its forces burned dozens of homes in Mandela before withdrawing safely back to the woods. On 14 August, IS posted a series of pictures reportedly of the Mandela attack, featuring insurgents walking through the village in daylight and burning a number of thatched huts.
The forests along the Messalo river in Muidumbe are thought to shelter insurgents, possibly serving as a staging post for attacks into neighbouring Macomia. Recently, Muidumbe itself has not been subject to such intense attacks as those in districts such as Nangade, Macomia and Ancuabe, but insurgent violence remains a threat. The newspaper Ikweli reported that the week before on Saturday 6 August, an insurgent group killed two men hunting bush rats in the Nantika region of Muidumbe.
