A 30-year-old South African is among workers abducted during an attack on a hunting camp in northern Mozambique, according to South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation.
The department told the Associated Press that the man was one of five South Africans working at the wildlife reserve when the attack took place last week in Niassa province.
Two of the other South Africans have returned home, while two remain safe in Mozambique. Embassy officials are working with Mozambican authorities and monitoring developments in the province, the department said.
Authorities have given differing figures for the number of people taken. Local police said at least 11 people, including children, were abducted during an attack on Marangira, while other accounts put the number of workers taken at up to 20. The reason for the discrepancy has not been established.
Police spokesperson Osvaldo Mahando told local media that one person was killed and another was slightly injured. Vehicles were also burned, according to the police account.
Mozambique’s state news agency reported that the attackers looted and burned a hunting camp and damaged a health centre, police post and telecommunications tower.
The attack is believed to have been carried out by militants linked to the Islamic State group. The insurgency began in neighbouring Cabo Delgado in 2017 and has displaced more than one million people, according to the United Nations. Attacks have also spread into Niassa and Nampula provinces.
The South African government has not released the abducted man’s name. No further detail on efforts to secure the workers’ release was available by Tuesday afternoon.
