Mozambique: Four killed, seven kidnapped in attack on Macomia – local sources

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Mozambique: Four killed, seven kidnapped in attack on Macomia – local sources

4:06 CAT | 29 Sep 2025

Image: Google Maps

Following the attack on the town of Macomia, the extremists kidnapped seven individuals, who are still missing.

The Islamic State, meanwhile, claimed responsibility for a separate attack on a village in Chiúre district on Friday, which resulted in the deaths of ‘Christians’ and the destruction of churches.

At least four people were killed and another injured after an attack by alleged terrorists in the district capital of Macomia, in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, local sources told Lusa on Monday.

According to the sources, the attack occurred at around 11:00 p.m. on Sunday, with the victims caught by surprise and shot dead inside their homes in the Nanga neighbourhood — an area that houses displaced people from other parts of Cabo Delgado province.”

“The terrorists entered, fatally shot four people, and injured another, who was taken to hospital,” confirmed a source speaking from Macomia.

Following the attack, the extremists kidnapped at least seven people, whose whereabouts remain unknown. “They took people; we don’t even know where they went,” lamented another source, speaking from Macomia.

The attack unsettled the Nanga neighbourhood and the town of Macomia in general, prompting some residents to abandon their homes.

Located about 200 kilometres from Pemba along National Road 380 — one of the few paved roads in the region — Macomia district borders Muidumbe district across the Messalo River.

The gas-rich northern province of Cabo Delgado has faced an armed rebellion since 2017, resulting in thousands of deaths and a humanitarian crisis, with more than a million people displaced since then.

Meanwhile, elements linked to the extremist group Islamic State claimed responsibility on Monday for an attack on a village in Cabo Delgado, which resulted in the deaths of “Christians” and the destruction of at least two churches, at a time of continued violence in the province.

The claim, made through Islamic State (IS) propaganda channels, states that the attack took place on Friday in a village in Chiúre district, during which they set fire to “two churches and other properties.”

By the end of July, attacks by these groups had already displaced more than 57,000 people in Chiúre district, southern Cabo Delgado province, according to official figures.

Meanwhile, the province has seen a resurgence of attacks by rebel groups, with the districts of Chiúre, Muidumbe, Quissanga, Ancuabe, and Meluco being targeted. More recently, Mocímboa da Praia also reported several deaths, leading the organisation Doctors Without Borders to suspend local activities for security reasons.

In 2024 alone, at least 349 people died in attacks in northern Mozambique, most claimed by the extremist group Islamic State—a 36% increase over the previous year—according to a study released by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS), an academic institution of the US Department of Defence.

Source: Lusa