Monitoring desk
\nJOHANNESBURG
\nSuspected militants killed five people using knives and machetes in an area of Mozambique that has been rocked by a spate of attacks blamed on militants, police said Thursday.
\nCabo Delgado, a northern province expected to become the centre of a natural gas industry after several promising discoveries, has seen a string of assaults on security forces and civilians since October.
\n\u201cThere was one more attack (by) the same group that has been attacking the neighbouring villages, (it) attacked a village on Wednesday around 9:00 p.m. and killed five and destroyed houses and left running,\u201d a police source told AFP.
\nThe attackers targeted Namaluco village in the Quissanga district of Cabo Delgado.
\nPolice reinforcements had been deployed to the area to step up security but attacks have continued unabated.
\nPolice believe the same group also hacked seven people to death in another village in the region on Tuesday after beheading 10 people in another settlement on May 27.
\n\u201cThe strategy of the group is to attack different villages over several days, confusing the strategic response of government forces,\u201d added the police source.
\nCabo Delgado police spokesman Augusto Guto said that \u201cdefence and security forces are on the ground hunting the attackers\u201d.
\nThe May 27 bloodshed occurred in two small villages close to the border with Tanzania and not far from Palma, a small town gearing up to be the country\u2019s new natural gas hub in Cabo Delgado.
\nWednesday slayings ocurred roughly 100 kilometres (62 miles) from Pemba, a town that is also an emerging tourist destination.
\nIn October, armed men targeted a police station and military post in the regional town of Mocimboa da Praia in what was believed to be the first militant attack on the country.
\nTwo officers died and 14 attackers were killed.
\nThe group, often described by locals and officials as \u201cAl-Shabaab\u201d, has no known link to the Somali militant group of the same name.
\nIn the following weeks, at least 300 Muslims, including Tanzanians, were arrested and several mosques were forced to close.
\nThe increase in attacks in the north of the country could pose serious issues for Mozambique, which holds general elections next year and hopes to cash in on the recently discovered gas reserves.
\nThe vast gas deposits discovered off the shores of Palma could transform the impoverished country\u2019s economy.
\nExperts predict that Mozambique could even become the world\u2019s third-largest exporter of liquefied natural gas.
\nBut the country\u2019s north has largely been excluded from the economic growth of the last 20 years, and the region sees itself as a neglected outpost, creating fertile ground for radical Al-Shabaab-style ideology.
\nMozambique last month passed an anti-terrorism law that punishes terror activity with prison sentences of more than 40 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Monitoring desk JOHANNESBURG Suspected militants killed five people using knives and machetes in an area of Mozambique that has been rocked by a spate of attacks blamed on militants, police said Thursday. Cabo Delgado, a northern province expected to become the centre of a natural gas industry after several promising discoveries, has seen a string […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27263,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-27254","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n