{"id":119036,"date":"2021-03-30T14:01:47","date_gmt":"2021-03-30T14:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=119036"},"modified":"2021-03-30T14:01:47","modified_gmt":"2021-03-30T14:01:47","slug":"mozambique-siege-isis-fanatics-celebrate-killing-christians-after-targeting-westerners-drinking-and-wearing-shorts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/world-news\/mozambique-siege-isis-fanatics-celebrate-killing-christians-after-targeting-westerners-drinking-and-wearing-shorts\/","title":{"rendered":"Mozambique siege: ISIS fanatics celebrate \u2018killing Christians\u2019 after targeting 'Westerners drinking and wearing shorts\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

ISIS bragged about "killing Christians" after disgruntled fanatics "targeted Westerners drinking alcohol and wearing shorts" in a deadly Mozambique siege.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Militants were pictured celebrating as the Islamic State claimed responsibility for brutal days-long attack in Palma, with the city all but deserted by Monday as residents fled during the capture.<\/p>\n


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It is believed enraged youths who practise a stricter form of Islam became upset over locals drinking alcohol and entering mosques dressed in shorts, reports NDTV.<\/p>\n

The attack on the area began last Wednesday, with many killed and others left uncounted for as ISIS pursued their bloody campaign.<\/p>\n

ISIS has claimed it has \u201cseized control\u201d of Palma after 55 expats including Brits were slaughtered during a bloody reign of terror.<\/p>\n

The city of 75,000 people in Cabo Delgado was almost abandoned on Monday as residents fled in panic after ISIS-linked militants launched their attack.<\/p>\n

"The caliphate's soldiers seized the strategic town of Palma," ISIS claimed in a statement posted on its Telegram channels.<\/p>\n

Palma is just six miles from a multi-billion-dollar gas project being built by France\u2019s Total as well as other energy giants.<\/p>\n


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Many survivors said they had walked for days through forest to find safety in Mueda, 112 miles to the south.<\/p>\n

"Many people fell from fatigue and were unable to continue walking, especially the elderly and children," one escapee, who did not want to be named, in Mueda told AFP.<\/p>\n

Others fled to the gas project site, where they are being sent on to the regional capital Pemba.<\/p>\n

A brave Brit contractor who shot dead two ISIS militants with an AK47 during the massacre and then hid out in the jungle grinned as he was pictured being rescued.<\/p>\n

Nick Alexander, a dual British-South African citizen, spent two nights crawling through bushland before being picked up with his colleague, Niraj Ramlagan, by South African mercenaries\u00a0at the weekend.<\/p>\n

A British contractor was one of those feared dead as Islamic State beheaded 50 people in a siege.<\/p>\n


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Phil Mawer, 44, has been missing since gunmen opened fire on 17 vehicles trying to flee a hotel complex and break through their lines.<\/p>\n

Only seven made it in Palma in\u00a0Mozambique, Africa, and seven people in them died.<\/p>\n

Mr Mawer\u2019s brother Bill said of Somerset-based hotel manager Phil: \u201cAll I can say with certainty is that my brother was at the hotel which came under attack and is now missing.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the three days of attacks, banks have been looted, government buildings and vehicles have been set on fire and much of Palma has been destroyed.<\/p>\n

A security consultant told the Sunday Times that the town was "chaotic and with no real sign of anyone on the offensive… the insurgents are doing as they please".<\/p>\n

South African Adrian Nel, 40, was one of those killed in Palma.<\/p>\n

His devastated mum Meryl Knox said: "My son's body is still there and I know those savages would have done horrific things to him.<\/p>\n

"I'm heartbroken."<\/p>\n

He had spent two days at the Hotel Amarula waiting to be evacuated with his brother Wesley, 37, and stepdad Greg, 55.<\/p>\n

There were about 190 other expats, workers and dignitaries also waiting to be saved.<\/p>\n

As insurgents surrounded the hotel, a group of 60 tried to make a run for safety in a convoy.<\/p>\n

Seven of the vehicles managed to speed away, but 10 were fired on by armed militants.<\/p>\n

Human Rights Watch said witnesses described "bodies on the streets and residents fleeing after the… fighters fired indiscriminately at people and buildings".<\/p>\n

The hotel was later burned to the ground.<\/p>\n

Helicopters carried out non-stop rescues under heavy fire at the weekend.<\/p>\n

US President\u00a0Joe Biden\u00a0has described the extremists in Mozambique as a "foreign terrorist organisation".<\/p>\n

More than a thousand people have been rescued by a\u00a0Dunkirk-style flotilla\u00a0of small and large boats.<\/p>\n

Officials said 1,400 who fled the region landed at Pemba on Sunday, 150 miles to the south, and hundreds more were due to disembark over night.<\/p>\n