On September 15th, at least 11 Christians were massacred by terrorists loyal to ISIS in northern Mozambique.
According to Friar Boaventura, a missionary in the region, the killings took place in the village of Naquitengue, in the province of Cabo Delgado.
Since 2017, the area has been under regular attack from Islamic fundamentalists.
Friar Boaventura told Aid to the Church in Need that a local terrorist group that claims allegiance to ISIS arrived in Naquitengue in the early afternoon and summoned everyone in the village. They then separated the Christians from the Muslims, based on names and ethnicity.
And then, the missionary says, “[they] opened fire on the Christians.” The terrorists’ statement claimed that they had killed 11 people in the operation, but there may be more victims, and others are seriously wounded.
Friar Boaventura says that this has happened before, and that it resulted in a general panic. The attack occurred as “many people were returning to their communities,” so there is now a great feeling of insecurity.
“We must pray for our brothers, who are in so much pain,” the friar says. This call is echoed by Sister Aparecida Ramos Queiroz, who works for the Diocese of Pemba, and who told ACN that “only prayer can sustain us, because there is no end in sight for this conflict.”
According to the Bishop of Pemba, António Juliasse, the attacks in Cabo Delgado and Niassa, a neighboring province in Mozambique, have led to the internal displacement of approximately one million people and the brutal deaths of five thousand more.
In a recent message to the participants in World Youth Day, the bishop asked that Christians not forget Cabo Delgado: “There is a war in Cabo Delgado that is not being discussed. Your solidarity with us helps to alleviate the immediate suffering of people in need.”
