Over 30 Christians were beheaded in northern Mozambique during a wave of violence in recent weeks. Islamic State–aligned militants also publish graphic images depicting executions, shootings and widespread arson, attacking villages in Cabo Delgado and Nampula provinces and destroying churches and homes.

The Islamic State Mozambique Province, or ISMP, released a 20-image set this week showing its operatives “executing civilians by beheading and close-range gunfire, and burning down homes and churches,” MEMRI reported. 

The militant group claimed responsibility for multiple assaults in late September. Among them was “last Thursday’s beheading of two Christians in Chiure-Velho, Chiure District.” They also asserted responsibility for a raid on Nacocha village, where “a Christian was shot and killed, and two churches were burned,” and that in Nacussa village they “set fire to two more churches.”

On Sunday, ISMP said fighters “killed four Christians and looted their belongings before withdrawing without casualties” in Macomia Town. The next day they said they had “beheaded a Christian in Macomia District.” The group then claimed an attack on Nakioto village in Mimba District, Nampula Province, in which “over 100 Christian homes and a church were burned.” In Minhanha village, Memba District, they said they destroyed “one church and 10 homes.” The militants reported they then returned to their bases after torching those homes.

One resident told The Defense Post that gunmen entered a neighborhood around 8 p.m., “killing four and kidnapping four others, including a woman and her two daughters.” Another local said a young man was shot dead after refusing to hand over his father’s property. 

This wave of brutality follows years of insurgent activity that has uprooted tens of thousands and pushed Mozambique and Rwanda into deeper security cooperation. ADF magazine reported the two governments renewed force agreements. 

On Aug. 27, Mozambique’s Defense Minister Cristóvão Artur Chume and Rwanda’s Defense Minister Juvenal Marizamunda signed a Status of Force Agreement in Kigali to extend the Rwandan military presence in Cabo Delgado. ISMP reportedly struck across six districts in September, from Balama in the southwest to Mocímboa da Praia in the north, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project. 

In a rare assault on Mocímboa da Praia on Sept. 7, fighters moved door to door selecting victims. That marked only the second such attack there since 2021.

Mozambican and Rwandan military officials met Sept. 12 in Pemba to assess joint operations. Rwanda’s defense authorities said the meeting aimed to evaluate progress in stabilizing the worst-hit northern regions and pledged intensified coordination. 

Earlier in July, ISMP had carried out simultaneous attacks in northern and southern Cabo Delgado, dispatching 60 fighters into Ancuabe and Chiure districts without resistance.

An August report by ACLED characterized the group’s advance into Chiure as an expansion rather than a withdrawal. The militants’ propaganda, the report said, helped maintain their public presence, even as UN estimates put ISMP’s strength down from 2,500 fighters to 280. Rwandan forces, first deployed to Cabo Delgado in mid-2021, continue to assist Mozambique in counterinsurgency efforts.

Grey Dynamics in another update noted that militants now operate from central districts of Cabo Delgado and are pushing offensives southward along the Macomia–Awasse highway, encountering little resistance. Mozambique’s Defense Minister admitted the recent operations failed to stop the insurgents. 

The violence has produced an urgent humanitarian crisis. Grey Dynamics said at least 50,000 people fled Chiure district in recent weeks, and reports surfaced of abductions and forced recruitment in remote communities. Doctors Without Borders suspended operations in Mocímboa da Praia and initiated emergency help for thousands sheltering in camps across Chiure. 

The Associated Press reported that over 46,000 people were displaced in eight days in late July, nearly 60 percent of them children. 

Since the insurgency began in 2017, the death toll has reached at least 6,200. The conflict also forced TotalEnergies to suspend a $20 billion gas project near Palma after militants attacked the area in 2021, killing over 800. In 2023, subcontractors and families of victims sued the company. The UN estimates that more than 1 million people in northern Mozambique have been displaced by militant violence compounded by drought and severe weather.

Christians worldwide and in Mozambique have responded with public statements condemning the violence. 

“ISIS militants are burning churches, destroying homes, and murdering Christians in cold blood. This is pure evil. As a Christian, it hits hard, said Rep. Ben Davis of Minnesota. 

Church leaders in Mozambique have also spoken out. Archbishop Inácio Saure of Nampula declared that Church lands are under attack and that authorities have failed to respond. 

He said, “They came and cut down many trees, and the wood was removed by truck. When we came to ask them to respect our private property, they appeared with machetes and spears. They threatened us and told us they were going to demolish the seminary.” 

Members of the South African Council of Churches also urged intervention. In a joint statement they asked the South African government to help push for peace in Mozambique, noting that thousands of Mozambicans had been displaced and warning of regional instability. 

Open Doors, which tracks Christian persecution worldwide, describes the attacks in Mozambique as part of a larger Islamist campaign targeting believers. In their Mozambique country profile they note that churches are burned, pastors abducted, and Christians often singled out as symbols of resistance. 

The suffering in Mozambique is a solemn reminder of what believers face when they stand firm in faith. The Christian community must continue to pray, advocate and support those who are persecuted, and press governments to protect the vulnerable.