By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
MAPUTO (Worthy News) - Christian aid workers have confirmed that Islamist militants beheaded two Christian men during an attack on a minibus in northern Mozambique.
News of the July 30 attack emerged Wednesday after the killings were reportedly claimed by the Mozambique division of the Islamic State (IS) terror group, known locally as al-Shabaab.
Both men were attacked in the village of Nova Zambézia in the Macomia district of Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, added Christian charity, Barnabas Fund.
A statement purportedly by IS-Mozambique said that “By the grace of Allah Almighty, the soldiers of the Caliphate … killed two Christians, beheading them, and shooting them with weapons.”
Barnabas Fund suggested that the violence against Christians came as Islamists gained control of an area of Cabo Delgado in 2017.
“The province has since been termed ‘the Land of Fear’ owing to brutal violence meted out against both Christians and moderate Muslims,” noted the well-informed group.
Mozambican and Southern African Development Community forces started to drive the Islamists back in late 2021. However, the Islamist insurgency now appears to be spreading, according to Christians familiar with the situation.
Barnabas Fund said the beheadings of the two Christian men, who were not identified apparently amid security concerns, were no isolated incidents in the southeastern African nation.
Last year in June 2021, IS-Mozambique claimed responsibility for the “beheading of several Christians” in Cabo Delgado, Barnabas Fund recalled. Another was reportedly beheaded during a raid on a Christian village in the neighboring province of Nampula.
Barnabas Fund, which supports Christians facing persecution in Muslim areas, asked supporters to “Pray that the Lord will comfort the family and friends” of the two killed Christians. “Ask that the violence perpetrated against Christians and others by IS militants will end, and peace will be restored to Cabo Delgado and the surrounding areas.”