Suspected jihadists kill 5 in north Mozambique: police

Suspected jihadists using knives and machetes killed five people in an area of Mozambique that has been rocked by a spate of attacks blamed on radical Islamists, police said today.

Cabo Delgado, a northern province expected to become the centre of a natural gas industry after several promising discoveries, has seen a string of assaults on security forces and civilians since October.

"There was one more attack (by) the same group that have been attacking the neighbouring villages, (it) attacked a village yesterday around 9:00 pm (local time)and killed five and destroyed houses and left running," a police source told AFP.

The attackers targeted Namaluco village in the Quissanga district of Cabo Delgado.

Police believe the same group also hacked seven people to death in another village in the region on Tuesday after beheading 10 people in another settlement on May 27.

"The strategy of the group is to attack different villages over several days, confusing the strategic response of government forces," added the police source.