Beheadings in Mozambique mark Islamist threat in new gas frontier

The sun rises as fishermen gather clams and bait in Pemba, Mozambique, July 12, 2018. Picture taken July 12, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

CHITOLO, Mozambique (Reuters) - Anastacio Talene Nakupenda woke to the sound of gunshots as a dozen men burst from dense forest to attack his remote Mozambican village, torching homes, stealing food and decapitating one of his neighbours.

"I was left with nothing, completely naked," Nakupenda, a Catholic, said outside his partially rebuilt home in Chitolo, northern Mozambique, from where he had run for his life while five men armed with machetes set the mud and wood walls alight.