Maputo — For the first time, jihadist terrorists have attacked the district of Ancuabe, in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, reports Monday's issue of the independent newssheet "Carta de Mocambique".

On Sunday terrorists attacked the Ancuabe village of Nanduli. Few details are available, and it is not yet clear whether there were any casualties. The paper's sources said that dozens of households fled from the village and spent the night in the bush.

In the nearby village of Nanhomani, and in Ancuabe town itself, there were alarming reports of the nearby presence of a contingent of armed and uniformed men. This was enough to persuade some people to leave Nahomani and take refuge in Ancuabe town.

The local authorities, however, assured Ancuabe residents that these armed men were not terrorists, but were from a nearby military training centre.

Nonetheless the Mozambican military sent a unit to the district to contain any further terrorist incursion

In the Ancuabe village of Gihote, according to "Carta de Mocambique", members of the public picked up a Tanzanian citizen, whom they believed was linked to the terrorists and handed him over to the authorities.

The paper also said that the terror group has also been distributing images of beheadings which they boasted of carrying out in various parts of Cabo Delgado. One picture also showed a vehicle belonging to the Meluco district health service, which the terrorists had seized on 26 May.

The Mozambican defence forces recovered the vehicle but the terrorists had vandalized it, seizing the medicines it had been carrying and the cell phones of the occupants.

The defence forces have also freed 20 people kidnapped by the terrorists and used to carry looted goods in Quissanga and Meluco districts.