In his new article, Parry points to his previous more controversial investigation which he says showed "Islamist rebels overran the region [around Palma], massacring more than 1,000 people". In fact, the dead and missing are real, but the killers are more varied.
In late 2022, Parry set up a survey team of nine researchers which visited 13,686 homes in Palma and nearby villages, on the peninsula and north of Palma, between November 2022 and March 2023. They identified 978 local people known or believed dead, including 366 shot, 330 beheaded, and 209 abducted and never seen again. In addition, 432 were still missing. Some non-local dead were also identified, including 55 construction workers: 53 Mozambicans, one South African and one Briton.
The issue is that it is very difficult to label the killers. Parry says "We did not ask for the identity of the perpetrator" and simply assumed they were insurgents because soldiers had fled. I do not accept that simplification. As the new report shows, soldiers and insurgents were both clearly active during the months after the Palma occupation. Videos and other reports show that soldiers also beheaded victims. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International both wrote of human rights violations by soldiers. And as we saw with the containers, soldiers simply assume all local people support the insurgents.
Of the known dead, 45 drowned, almost surely trying to escape soldiers or insurgents. And in late 2023 the UN estimated there were 628,000 displaced people in Cabo Delgado, so many of the 432 still missing could be in displaced camps and not knowing how to contact family.
So it cannot be said that 1000 people were killed by insurgents. What can be said is that Parry's investigation does show 900 people were killed by insurgents or soldiers, probably in equal shares.
Parry's reports of the Palma massacre are on https://www.alex-perry.com/palma-massacre/ and https://www.alex-perry.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Mozambique-Massacre-Statistics-190623.pdf and on the Amarula seige https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/exploration-survival/attack-amarula-hotel-palma-mozambique-africa.
