Isis targets Cabo Delgado town

The Cabo Delgado town of Macomia is under attack by Isis militants, Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi confirmed on Friday. He said the jihadists withdrew, then returned. News24 reports that the attack appears to be the most serious in the region for some time, and comes as a SADC force starts to withdraw. Mozambique's army is fighting Islamist insurgents who launched a major attack on the northern town of Macomia on Friday morning, Nyusi said in a televised address. The town is in Cabo Delgado, a gas-rich northern province where Islamic State-linked militants started an insurgency in 2017. Despite a large security response, there has been a surge in attacks since January this year. The offensive comes as French oil company TotalEnergies is seeking to restart a $20bn liquefied natural gas terminal in Cabo Delgado that was halted in 2021 due to the insurgency. ExxonMobil, with partner Eni, is also developing an LNG project in northern Mozambique and said last week that it was ‘optimistic and pushing forward’ as the security situation had improved.