
<p>MAPUTO (Reuters) &#8211; Militant group Islamic State has claimed responsibility for an attack in northern Mozambique just south of the site of gas projects worth $60 billion being developed by the likes of Exxon Mobil and Total.  </p>



<p>Insurgents attacked the town of Mocimboa da Praia on Monday, briefly occupying some areas and its army barracks before being pushed out on Tuesday, Mozambique authorities and security analysts said. </p>



<p>Islamic State claimed the attack through its Amaq news agency, which said dozens of soldiers and police officers had been killed or injured. The government has not provided a figure of dead or injured.  </p>



<p>“Military sources told Amaq that Islamic State fighters attacked five army and police barracks in the town,” the agency said in Tuesday’s report, adding that weapons, ammunition and other equipment had also been seized.   </p>



<p>Government spokesman Filimao Suaze said the retreating attackers had left a “trail of destruction and dead bodies”, and that security had been beefed up in the area.  </p>



<p>While Islamic State has claimed a spate of recent attacks in the northernmost province of Cabo Delgado, home to the gas developments following one of the biggest gas finds in a decade off its coast, Tuesday’s claim of responsibility is the first matched by rare official confirmation of an attack.  </p>



<p>The government does not acknowledge such claims, however.   </p>



<p>Mocimboa da Praia, 60 kilometres (37 miles) south of the gas projects, previously served as the main airport for international workers flying into the developments and its port is used for cargo deliveries.  </p>



<p>Exxon and Total did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment sent outside usual business hours.  </p>



<p>NGOs say the government must do more to protect the mostly poor civilians in the area and step up transparency. </p>



<p>“This violent escalation in Mocimboa da Praia is the culmination of a tragic failure by the Mozambican government to protect the people in this volatile area,” said Muleya Mwananyanda, rights group Amnesty’s deputy director for east and southern Africa.</p>



<p>“For almost three years, armed groups have been attacking villagers around Cabo Delgado, causing untold human suffering without being held accountable.”  </p>



<p>The organisation said about 350 people have been killed since 2017, but many estimate a much higher figure. More than 900 people have been reported killed, says a non-government body, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project.   </p>



<p>(Reporting by Manuel Mucari in Maputo and Emma Rumney in Johannesburg; Additional reporting by Nayera Abdallah in Cairo; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)</p>



<p>This article was first published on Reuters Africa <a href="https://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKBN21C0TY-OZATP">https://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKBN21C0TY-OZATP</a> and is republished with its permission.</p>


Islamic State claims Mozambique attack close to gas projects


<p>BAMAKO (Reuters) &#8211; Suspected Islamist militants killed 29 Malian soldiers on Thursday in an attack on a base in the country’s northeast, the army said. </p>



<p>There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack in the town of Tarkint, which is about 125 km (78 miles) north of the city of Gao. Mali’s army has repeatedly suffered heavy casualties from jihadist fighters active in the area with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State.   </p>



<p>The army said earlier in the day that just two soldiers had died but tweeted later that the death toll had “heavily evolved” to 29 killed and five wounded.  </p>



<p>Vast swathes of central and northern Mali are effectively lawless, used by the jihadists as a base for attacks in Mali and into neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso, where security has deteriorated markedly over the past year.  </p>



<p>Former colonial power France has had thousands of troops across the semi-arid band beneath the Sahara Desert known as the Sahel, but French officials acknowledge they have failed to slow the violence.  </p>



<p>French army chief Francois Lecointre told senators last month that the Malian, Nigerien and Burkinabe armies were losing the equivalent of one battalion per year to the militants’ attacks.  </p>



<p>(Reporting by Tiemoko Diallo and Souleymane Ag Anara; Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Chris Reese and Marguerita Choy)</p>



<p>This article was first published on Reuters Africa <a href="https://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKBN2170TS-OZATP">https://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKBN2170TS-OZATP</a> and is republished with its permission.</p>


Militant attack kills 29 Malian soldiers – army

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<p>A medical aid worker, Hauwa Liman who was kidnapped in March this year has been killed by the Islamic State in West Africa, a faction that split Boko Haram in 2016. Onyekachi Adekoya, Managing Director at PR24 Nigeria join CNBC Africa to discuss the implications of the continued terrorist operations in Nigeria.</p>


Tackling insecurity ahead of Nigeria’s 2019 elections

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<p>Today the Wits Business School will be holding a public lecture on &#8216;Islamic State and Terror: War without End? &#8211;  which will be delivered by the school&#8217;s visiting Professor, author, politician and activist at Wits Business School, Lord Peter Hain.</p>


Wits holds lecture on Islamic State and Terror: War without End?

<p>LAGOS &#8211; Nigerian authorities are involved in negotiations aimed at securing the release of some of the more than 200 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014 in the northeastern Nigerian town of Chibok, the president&#8217;s spokesman said on Thursday.</p>
<p>His comments, posted on Twitter, came in response to reports in Nigeria&#8217;s media that some of the girls had been released by the Islamist militant group, which he said were untrue.</p>
<p>&#8220;The negotiations are ongoing and the Department of State Service, DSS is full of optimism that they will be successful,&#8221; Garba Shehu, a spokesman for President Muhammadu Buhari, said in a tweet.</p>
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<p>&#8220;To my friends spreading the news of a further release of Chibok Girls, we are not there yet,&#8221; he tweeted.</p>
<p>Around 270 girls were taken in April 2014 from their school in Chibok, Borno state, where Boko Haram has waged a seven-year insurgency aimed at creating an Islamic state, killing more than 15,000 people and displacing over two million.</p>
<p>Dozens escaped in the initial melee, but more than 200 girls remained missing until October when 21 of the girls were freed following mediation by Switzerland and the International Red Cross.</p>
<p>The jihadist group has kidnapped hundreds of men, women and children but the kidnapping of the Chibok girls brought worldwide attention to the group.</p>
<p>The Nigerian military has in recent weeks been carrying out a large-scale offensive in the Sambisa forest, Boko Haram&#8217;s vast northeastern woodland stronghold.</p>
<div class="related-content group-one">A military spokesman, in a statement issued late on Wednesday, said the army had rescued 1,880 people during operations in the forest over the past week. Reuters was unable to independently verify the claim.</div>
<p>(Reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram, editing by G Crosse)﻿</p>


Islamic State

Islamic State claims Mozambique attack close to gas projects

Militant attack kills 29 Malian soldiers – army

Tackling insecurity ahead of Nigeria’s 2019 elections

Wits holds lecture on Islamic State and Terror: War without End?

More Chibok girls could be released

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Islamic State

Islamic State claims Mozambique attack close to gas projects

Militant attack kills 29 Malian soldiers – army

Tackling insecurity ahead of Nigeria’s 2019 elections

Wits holds lecture on Islamic State and Terror: War without End?

More Chibok girls could be released

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