Thread by @trbrtc

Hundreds of insurgents attacked northern Mozambique's Palma last week, resulting in violence that sent thousands fleeing, with some rushing to the beach, where a ragtag fleet of cargo ships, tugboats and fishing vessels was ferrying people to safety. nytimes.com/2021/03/28/wor…

Islamic State's Central Africa Province (ISCAP) has claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming they killed more than 55 “members of the Mozambican army and the Christians, including nationals of Crusader states” in clashes that lasted for three days. Via @heytherehaIey.

The “members of the Mozambican army” in the statement probably refers to any security forces active in/around Palma, since DAG founder told BBC's @Sarah_Montague that the Mozambique's armed forces (FADM) didn't join until yesterday. bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0…

https://twitter.com/TomBowk/status/1376514011034968064

As first highlighted by @nemo321mc and @Mylastjobbefore, a convoy of at least 10 vessels sailed into the bay of Palma in an informal effort to evacuate people. Twelve hours later they sailed south together, several docking at Pemba later.

Since the private military company DAG is in the news again, worth reminding that they've been accused of indiscriminate attacks in a recent Amnesty report amnesty.org/en/latest/news… and they seem to be using barrel bombs in Cabo Delgado too:

https://twitter.com/CalibreObscura/status/1366747175900893188

Also visible are eight vehicles at the beach east of the Amarula Palma Hotel, perhaps used by those that tried to flee by sea: -10.75638, 40.48354. It seems @soicotelevisao filmed out of a Mil Mi-8 ”Hips“ helicopter operated by the Mozambican Air Force.

https://twitter.com/heytherehaIey/status/1376618120471777284

Geolocation by @AKMcKeever shows at least three DAG helicopters, including their Alouette III, involved in the evacuation of individuals at a site about 15km northeast of Palma, Mozambique: -10.66931, 40.57436.

To be clear, this footage is from a couple of days ago, when apparent foreign workers were evacuated from around Palma. This photo of the DAG-operated Alouette III helicopter appears to be from that same moment as mentioned above.