Dozens dead in militant attack on Palma town in Mozambique

Dozens of people have died following a militant attack on the town of Palma, in Cabo Delgado province of In Mozambique. Spokesman of the country’s defence department Omar Saranga said the fatalities include both locals and foreigners working in the region, without detailing their nationalities. Seven were killed trying to escape a siege on a hotel, he added. Hundreds of others, both locals and foreigners, were reportedly rescued.

The attempted evacuation of people trapped during an attack in northern region of the southern African nation by militants has led to multiple casualties, with dozens of people still unaccounted for.

Palma is near a major gas project run by the French energy giant Total, and more than 100 workers and civilians took refuge in the town’s Amarula Palma hotel. Northern Mozambique has been torn apart by an insurgency since 2017.