In September, jihadists from the Islamic State Mozambique Province (ISMP) shot dead or beheaded at least 11 Christians and torched more than 130 homes in northern Mozambique, according to terrorism monitoring groups.
The US-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) cited an official statement from the Islamic State of Mozambique Province (ISMP) saying that on September 29, ISMP members captured and beheaded a Christian in the Macomia district of Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province.
According to MEMRI, ISMP reported attacking Macomia Town the previous day (September 28), killing four Christians and seizing their belongings.
According to MEMRI, on September 26, ISMP members attacked the village of Nacocha in Cabo Delgado’s Chiure district, shooting dead Christians and burning two church buildings. On the same day, ISMP members set fire to two church buildings in Naxsa village, also in Kiure district, MEMRI reported.
Of the six killings reported by MEMRI, AFP confirmed four killed in Macoima on September 28, citing military and local sources. MEMRI claimed that ISMP reported killing 30 Christians in northern Mozambique in late September, without providing details. According to Barnabas Aid, the Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium announced that ISMP killed at least 11 Christians in northern Mozambique in late September, citing four deaths in the Chiure area.
The ISMP statement also claimed that on September 23, they attacked the village of Nabatini in the Montepuez district of Cabo Delgado province and set fire to Christian homes. On September 28, they attacked the village of Mahip in Montepuez, Cabo Delgado province, burning down 23 houses and a church building. On September 30, 100 Christian houses and a church building were set on fire in Nakiot village, Minba district, Nampula province. They burned down a church building and 10 Christian houses in Minhanha village, Memba district, Nampula province.
AFP news agency reported that four people were killed in Macoima on September 28, and gunmen also kidnapped four others, including a woman and her two daughters.
A large Rwandan military base supporting the Mozambican army is located just outside Macomia. Rwanda’s military has been supporting the fight against rebels in Cabo Delgado since 2021, according to AFP news agency.
Islamic extremist groups have been mounting an insurgency in Cabo Delgado province since 2017. AFP news agency reported that more than 6,200 people have been killed since the insurgency began in 2017, according to conflict monitoring group ACLED.
The U.S. State Department’s 2023 report on Mozambique warned that attributing terrorist violence in Cabo Delgado to solely religious motives risks exacerbating the socio-economic grievances of historically marginalized Muslim-majority Muslims and “furthers misconceptions among security forces that impede relations with local communities.”
Mozambique’s military, with support from neighboring countries, restored peace to Cabo Delgado province in 2023, but in January 2020, rebels closely linked to Islamic State counterattacked with a series of violent offensives, displacing at least 80,000 civilians, most of them Christians, from their homes, The Telegraph reported.
Analysts say Cabo Delgado’s population is about 54% Muslim, and the rebels are seeking not only to establish a strict Islamic state but also to address complaints of discrimination and neglect by the government, which has a Christian (56.4%) majority, mainly Roman Catholics.
The Telegraph reported that the rebel operation included the torching of several church buildings in the Chiure district of southern Cabo Delgado, which is 42% Catholic and 44% Muslim. top of form
The rebel group, originally known as Ansar al-Sunna, has claimed affiliation with Islamic State since 2019. The underlying jihadist ideology of the rebels is clear. During an attack on a passenger bus in Cabo Delgado in February 2024, gunmen abducted and executed the driver, leaving two handwritten notes in English and Portuguese, said widely published Islam expert Raymond Ibrahim. (refuses to convert to Islam),” the memo said. “If you do not pay the jizya, it will be a war to the end of the earth, Qiyamah. (A war to the ends of the earth until the Day of Resurrection). Muslims, we declare peace to the whole world. Let us join together to defend the religion of Allah. If you (Christians) refuse (to convert to Islam), you will pay the jizya, and if you refuse to pay the jizya, you will be killed.”
Two days later, Ibrahim wrote, “terrorists stopped another bus and forced the Christian passengers to give up all their possessions on pain of death.”
Mozambique is ranked 37th on Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List of countries where it is most difficult to become a Christian.
