Maputo — An unspecified number of young men were kidnapped on Monday by a group of Islamist terrorists in Pulo village, Metuge district, in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado.

According to local sources, cited by the independent newsheet "Carta de Moçambique', the victims' whereabouts are so far unknown. However, it is believed that the kidnappers came from Chiúre district, or possibly from Memba and Erati districts in the neighbouring province of Nampula.

According to one villager, the young men may have been recruited into the terrorists' ranks or to help the terrorists transport goods that they had looted.

Also on Monday, a group armed with blunt objects, supposedly from the villages of Silva Macua and Intutupue, in Ancuabe district, closed the main north-south highway (EN1) and demanded money from some drivers.

They fled from the scene when they realized that a unit of the Mozambican defence and security forces had been deployed to restore order.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Islamist terrorism forced, in recent months, the displacement of about 300,000 people in Cabo Delgado and Nampula provinces.

Since 2017, violent extremist attacks have been taking place in Cabo Delgado, where at least 6,200 people have been killed and over one million displaced.

However, the violence has been tending to spread to other regions, especially in Nampula.