A Mozambican worker was killed and six others were wounded when two road convoys operated by US gas giant Anadarko came under attack in northern Mozambique, an area grappling with jihadist violence, the company said Friday. The convoys were targeted Thursday on a highway linking Mocimboa da Praia to Afungi Bay in Palma, the nerve centre of Mozambique's nascent gas industry.
They are the first such attacks by militants targeting gas operators in the area. Anadarko said there were "two related attacks" that occurred around 5 pm (1500 GMT) some 20 kilometres (12 miles) from an LNG project construction site at Afungi Bay. "The first involved a convoy where six contract personnel sustained non-life-threatening injuries and were either treated or are receiving treatment, and we have accounted for all personnel," it said.
"Tragically, the second attack, which involved the firm contracted to construct an airstrip for the project, resulted in one fatality," it said in a updated statement. A journalist in Mocimboa da Praia town told AFP that the worker, identified by the company as Gabriel Couto, was beheaded. Armed men blocked the road and attacked the convoy with firearms, company sources told AFP, with local media suggesting that 15 attackers were involved.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019

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