Palma is a town on the northeast coast of

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

Cabo Delgado Province Cabo Delgado is the northernmost province of Mozambique. It has an area of and a population of 2,320,261 (2017). It borders the Mtwara Region in the neighbouring country of Tanzania, and the provinces of Nampula and Niassa. The Province is ri ...

. Less than away is the border with

Mtwara Region Mtwara Region (''Mkoa wa Mtwara'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions, with its capital as the municipality of Mtwara. Mtwara Region is home to one of the most influential peoples in Tanzania, the Makonde. Mtwara is ho ...

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

to the north and north-west.

Economy and languages

Various languages, including Makwe, Makonde, Mwani,

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language officially used in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes. * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa. * Swahili culture, the culture of the Swahili p ...

, and Portuguese, are spoken in the town.''Lonely Planet Southern Africa'' (

Lonely Planet Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books. History 20th century Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen Wheeler, Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 19 ...

: 7th ed. 2017), p. 227. The town was historically known for its fishing,

basketry Basket weaving (also basketry or basket making) is the process of weaving or sewing pliable materials into three-dimensional artifacts, such as baskets, mats, mesh bags or even furniture. Craftspeople and artists specialized in making baskets ...

, and mat-weaving industries. The local economy was transformed by the discovery of gas in the nearby

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

in 2010, which led to a rapidly growing

liquefied natural gas Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volume o ...

sector. Palma is close to facilities for natural gas extraction off the coast of Mozambique, a major offshore gas project by

TotalEnergies TotalEnergies SE is a French multinational integrated energy and petroleum company founded in 1924 and is one of the seven supermajor oil companies. Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas explorati ...

.Max Bearak
As militants overrun Mozambique oil town, fears rise of 'humanitarian catastrophe'
''Washington Post'' (31 March 2021).

2021 attack

Beginning in October 2017, armed Islamist extremists linked to the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signi ...

(ISIL) launched a

jihadist Jihadism is a neologism for modern, armed militant Political aspects of Islam, Islamic movements that seek to Islamic state, establish states based on Islamic principles. In a narrower sense, it refers to the belief that armed confrontation ...

insurgency in the Cabo Delgado region. The militants launched attacks and committed mass beheadings, and in August 2020 seized the port town of Mocimboa da Praia. The group sometimes called themselves ''al-Shabaab'', although they do not have known links with the Somali al-Shabaab, a different

group. They attacked Palma on 24 March 2021; more than 35,000 people were displaced, many fleeing to the provincial capital, Pemba.Andrew Meldrum
Rebels leave beheaded bodies in streets of Mozambique town
Associated Press (29 March 2021). Dozens of civilians were murdered, with beheaded bodies left in the street. The militants battled with the Mozambican military, police, and the Dyck Advisory Group (a private military company hired by the police). Lionel Dyck, the head of the Dyck group, said that the attackers wore dark uniforms, were organized, and well-equipped with

AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is an assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kala ...

rifles, RPD and PKM machine guns, and heavy mortars. Prior to the attack, the population was around 75,000. Many foreign and domestic natural gas workers evacuated the town by boat, helicopter, and convey, but others could not be evacuated. Most communications with the town were cut off on 29 March.Emma Rumney & Omar Fahmy
Islamic State claims deadly attack on northern Mozambique town
Reuters (29 March 2021). On 29 March,

claimed that its Islamic State's Central Africa Province was responsible for the attack and said they had killed 55 people, including Mozambican army soldiers; these claims could not be immediately independently verified. The attack on Palma raised fears of a possible

humanitarian crisis A humanitarian crisis (or sometimes humanitarian disaster) is defined as a singular event or a series of events that are threatening in terms of health, safety or well-being of a community or large group of people. It may be an internal or exter ...

. On 5 April, military forces of Mozambique recaptured Palma.

References

{{reflist Populated places in Cabo Delgado Province