Jihadists with the Islamic State Mozambique Province (ISMP) shot to death or beheaded at least 11 Christians and burned more than 130 homes in northern Mozambique in September, according to terrorism monitors.
Citing public statements by the Islamic State Mozambique Province (ISMP), the U.S.-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) stated that ISMP members on Sept. 29 captured and beheaded a Christian in the Macomia District of northern Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado Province.
ISMP reported attacking Macomia Town the previous day (Sept. 28), when they killed four Christians and seized belongings, according to MEMRI.
On Sept. 26 ISMP members raided Nacocha village in Cabo Delgado’s Chiure District, where they shot and killed a Christian and burned two church buildings, among other property, according to MEMRI. On the same day, the ISMP members set fire to two church buildings in Nacussa village, also in Chiure District, MEMRI reported.
Of the six killings that MEMRI reported, the AFP verified the four slain in Macoima on Sept. 28, citing military and local sources. MEMRI asserted that ISMP reported killing 30 Christians in northern Mozambique in the latter half of September without giving details. The Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium stated that ISMP killed at least 11 Christians in northern Mozambique in the last half of September, citing four deaths in Chiure District, according to Barnabas Aid.
The ISMP statements also claimed to have attacked Nabatini village in Montepuez District, Cabo Delgado Province, on Sept. 23, setting fire to a Christian home; raided Mahip village, Montepuez, Cabo Delgado Province on Sept. 28, burning 23 homes and a church building; burned 100 Christian homes and a church building in Nakioto village, Mimba District of Nampula Province, on Sept. 30; and burned a church building and 10 Christian homes in Nampula Province’s Minhanha village, Memba District.
In Macoima, the AFP reported that along with the killing of four people on Sept. 28, the insurgents also kidnapped four others, including a woman and her two daughters.
A large military base for Rwandan forces supporting the Mozambican army is located just outside of Macomia; Rwandan forces have helped fight the insurgents in Cabo Delgado since 2021, the AFP reported.
Islamic extremist groups have mounted an insurgency in Cabo Delgado Province since 2017. The AFP reported that, according to conflict monitoring group ACLED, more than 6,200 people have been killed since the insurgency began in 2017.
The U.S. Department of State’s 2023 report on Mozambique warned that attributing terrorist violence to religious motives alone in Cabo Delgado risked exacerbating socioeconomic grievances of historically marginalized, majority-Muslim populations and “promoted misconceptions among security forces that hindered their relationships with local communities.”
The Mozambique army with help from neighboring countries had restored calm to the Cabo Delgado Province in 2023, but insurgents loosely linked with Islamic State returned with a series of fierce offensives in January of that year, driving at least 80,000 civilians from their homes, most of them Christians, according to The Telegraph.
Cabo Delgado’s population is about 54 percent Muslim, and the insurgents seek not only to establish a strict Islamic state but address grievances of discrimination and neglect by the government of the country that is majority Christian (56.4 percent), mainly Roman Catholic, according to analysts.
Insurgent military campaigns have included the burning of several church buildings in southern Cabo Delgado’s Chiure District, which is 42 percent Catholic and 44 percent Muslim, The Telegraph reported. Top of Form
Initially known as Ansar al-Sunna, the insurgents have claimed affiliation with the Islamic State since 2019. The jihadist ideology undergirding the rebels is evident. When the insurgents attacked a passenger bus in Cabo Delgado in February 2024, they left two hand-written notes, one in English and one in Portuguese, after abducting and executing the driver, noted Raymond Ibrahim, a widely published expert on Islam: “We declare war on all Christians in the world for three things: either to be a Muslim or pay Jizya [a tax on Christians and Jews who refuse to convert to Islam],” the note read. “If you haven’t pay Jizya it’s a war until final earth, Qiyama. [war to the ends of the earth until Resurrection Day.] To Muslims we announce peace to all the world. Let’s work together to defend the religion of Allah together. If you [Christians] refuse [to convert to Islam] then you will pay Jizya and if you refuse to pay Jizya you will be killed.”
Ibrahim wrote that two days later, “the terrorists stopped another bus and forced its Christian passengers to relinquish all their money on pain of death.”
Mozambique is ranked 37th on Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.
