‘Total postpones restart of work on $20bn Mozambique gas project amid violence’ 29 March 2021

Suspected Islamist insurgents attacked a convoy of fleeing civilians, including foreign workers, as fighting continued in a northern Mozambique town that is near a number of gas projects, security and diplomatic sources said. At least one person was killed and a number wounded in Friday's attack, according to three sources and three organizations with employees inside a hotel where people have been taking refuge in the town of Palma. French energy group Total said on Saturday it had postponed the restart of work at its site near Palma, a logistics hub adjacent to gas projects worth $60 billion. No project staff were among the victims of the fighting, it said.

The attack on Palma began just hours after Total said on Wednesday that it would resume work at its $20-billion project after halting operations in January due to security concerns. Nearly 200 people had been sheltering in the Amarula Palma hotel during the attack, according to three diplomats and one of the organisations with people inside. They included a Spanish resident and other foreigners who locked themselves in a protected room in the hotel, a Spanish diplomatic source told Reuters. Spain's foreign ministry confirmed there had been a Spanish citizen in Palma who managed to flee the town.

…Portugal's foreign ministry said one of its nationals had been injured in the fighting but did not specify the circumstances. The person had since been rescued, and its embassy in Maputo was working to identify other Portuguese nationals who needed support, the ministry said in an email. New York-based Human Rights Watch said it spoke to seven people in Palma before communications were cut on Wednesday. They described people fleeing as gunshots rang out, bodies in the streets and insurgents firing at both people and buildings, the group said in a statement.