by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - Two Christian men in northern Mozambique were beheaded by local Islamic State terrorists on July 30, the Barnabas Fund reports.
Last month’s two murders were claimed by the Islamic State (IS) of Mozambique, known locally as al-Shabaab, Barnabas Fund said. In a statement confirming responsibility for the killings, IS-Mozambique said: “By the grace of God Almighty, the soldiers of the Caliphate … killed two Christians, beheading them, and shooting them with weapons.”
The two Christians were killed near the village of Nova Zambézia in Macomia district, Cabo Delgado, Barnabas Fund said. The region of Cabo Delgado fell under the control of Islamic militant insurgents in 2017; it is now known as “the Land of Fear” due to acts of extreme violence carried out against Christians and moderate Muslims. A number of Christians were beheaded in Cabo Delgado in June last year.
“Christians, mostly Roman Catholics, constitute 59% of Mozambique’s population; Muslims comprise 19%,” advocacy group Christian Persecution said in a website statement. “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,” Christian Persecution explained.
Mozambique ranks 41st on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2022 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted on account of their faith.