Mozambican authorities said militants linked to the Islamic State beheaded at least six people and killed an Italian nun in Nampula province on Tuesday.

Speaking at a resort north of the capital Maputo, President Filipe Nyusi said the rebels had carried out a killing spree to escape soldiers from Mozambique, Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) sent to counter the violence.

The insurgency is centered in Cabo Delgado province in northern Mozambique and has claimed thousands of lives since its eruption in 2017, disrupting billions of dollars of natural gas projects.

“On September 6, as a result of terrorist attacks in the Irati and Mimba districts of Nampula province, six citizens were beheaded, three were kidnapped, six terrorists were arrested, and dozens of houses were set on fire,” Newsi said.

An 83-year-old Italian nun living in the city of Nacala was shot and killed in an attack on Tuesday evening, while two other members of the missionary group managed to escape, according to media reports, confirmed by Miti Gondola, a government official in Nampula province. .

The Portuguese news agency Lusa reported that the nun who was shot in the head belonged to the Comboni missionary nuns and had been working in Mozambique since 1963.

On its Telegram channel, ISIS claimed responsibility for the killing of four Christians, including an Italian nun, in an attack on the village of Chibin in the Mimba district of Nampula province on Tuesday.