MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th March, 2021) An air bridge has been organized between Mozambique's port city of Pemba and the capital of Maputu to transfer about 1,300 people who managed to flee the town of Palma captured by Islamic militants, Portuguese Lusa news agency reported on Monday, citing a source from Total energy company.
Last week, Islamist groups attacked Palma, a small town in northern Mozambique, which is home to international gas projects. The Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia) has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Nearly 2,000 locals fled to nearby forests, while field workers, among them foreigners, and officials took refuge in the Amarula Hotel in Palma. The military has announced an operation to retake the destroyed town. On Saturday, the Mozambican authorities evacuated about 180 people who had been unable to leave the hotel for three days.
Dozens of people, both locals and foreigners, were killed in the days-long Islamist attack on Palma.
The attack took place as French energy giant Total was set to resume work at its $20 billion LNG project in Mozambique's northernmost province of Cabo Delgado, which was put on hold in January over security concerns. The region has been rocked by the Islamist insurgency since 2017 with reports of children being beheaded by IS-linked militants earlier March dominating international headlines.
Pemba is the administrative center of Cabo Delgado.
