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Mozambique: At Least 21 Christians Killed by Islamists

November 10, 2022

Christians, mostly Roman Catholics, constitute 59% of Mozambique’s population; Muslims comprise 19%. However, the Islamic State (ISIS) has begun to step up operations in the country’s gas-rich northeast, where the Muslim population is largely concentrated.

For more ChristianPersecution.com coverage of the persecution of Christians in Mozambique, see here.

“At Least 21 Christians Killed by Islamists in Northern Mozambique,” Barnabas Fund, November 9, 2022:

At least 21 Christians have been killed by Islamist extremists in violent attacks throughout October in northern Mozambique.

Jihadists set fire to a church building and several houses in the Chiure district of Cabo Delgado Province on October 26, killing one person.

The Islamists also announced the killing of 20 Christians and the displacement of hundreds more in Cabo Delgado between October 3 and 20.

The attacks were carried out by an Islamic State (IS)-affiliated organisation Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jama, known locally as Al Shabaab (not the Somali-based group of the same name). They were announced in al-Naba, the weekly magazine of IS (also known as ISIS, ISIL, Daesh).

In addition to church building in Chiure, the Islamists said that other church property in Cabo Delgado had been destroyed, though no details were given.

A Muslim leader and his wife were also beheaded by the jihadi group, who since 2017 have subjected both the Christian and Muslim communities of northern Mozambique to a campaign of terror.

At least eight believers were killed in lslamist violence across Cabo Delgado and neighbouring Nampula Province in September 2022. 

The attacks were carried out by an Islamic State (IS)-affiliated organization Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jama, known locally as Al Shabaab (not the Somali-based group of the same name). They were announced in al-Naba, the weekly magazine of IS (also known as ISIS, ISIL, Daesh).

In addition to church building in Chiure, the Islamists said that other church property in Cabo Delgado had been destroyed, though no details were given….