Pemba, Mozambique, June 8, 2026 (Lusa) - At least three civilians were killed following an attack attributed to an extremist group in the village of Xitaxi in Mozambique's Cabo Delgado province, community sources told Lusa on Monday.
According to the sources, the attack occurred on Friday in the agricultural production area on the border between the villages of Xitaxi and Chitunda, after locals were surprised by the armed group.
"There was an attack by terrorists on our fields, and they killed three people," a source from Muidumbe explained.
Following the attack, several farmers left the area, fearing further violence.
"They killed and looted produce from the fields," said another source.
The villages of Xitaxi and Chitunda are located along Highway 380, one of the few paved roads in the region.
The gas-rich province of Cabo Delgado has been the target of extremist attacks for eight years, with the first attack recorded on 5 October 2017, in the district of Mocímboa da Praia.
The ACLED organisation recorded eight violent events in the last two weeks of May in Cabo Delgado province, six involving Islamic State extremists, resulting in eight deaths, bringing the total number of deaths since 2017 to 6,624, as previously reported by Lusa.
According to the latest report from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data organisation (ACLED), covering 18 to 31 May, of the 2,397 violent events recorded since October 2017, when the armed insurgency began in Cabo Delgado, 2,214 involved elements associated with the Islamic State Mozambique (ISM).
The report on this two-week period states that, on 25 May, ISM fighters managed to "fire mortars at a Mozambican military position on the outskirts of Macomia in central Cabo Delgado, demonstrating the fragility of the village's security".
"At least three other violent incidents occurred in the village, with some residents blaming the security forces, who, in turn, blame the ISM. To the south, ISM militants remain in Chiúre, although their reason for being there remains unclear," the report said.
The ACLED assessment added that, on the coast, also during this period, there are records that "the insurgents hijacked at least 12 vessels in the waters off Mocímboa da Praia and Macomia," illustrating "the inability of the Mozambican Navy to guarantee the safety of vessel owners and operators."
Furthermore, in the last two weeks, ISM "has been targeting Mozambican boat owners" and that, on the night of 20 May, fighters from the group, in seven boats, "surrounded a group of five fishing boats off Pangane, in the Macomia district."
"After negotiations with the boat owners, a ransom of 60,000 meticais [€808] was paid for two boats, and the kidnappers seized the remaining three, along with their equipment. The boats were probably taken north, to the Messalo River," ACLED said.
RYCE/ADB // ADB.
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