Special forces on alert to rescue Mozambique Brits
Fears for missing as battle rages
SPECIAL Boat Service commandos were last night on standby as fears grew for missing Brits caught up in the Mozambique massacre.
Members of the elite force were preparing to move to Cyprus and from there stage a rescue operation.
It came as the Foreign Office launched an investigation into missing Brits.
Dozens of locals and soldiers were butchered and thousands displaced when Islamic State stormed Palma.
A small number were flown out of the city by helicopter. But witnesses described hiding from hundreds of attackers as beheaded bodies littered a beach.
John Godfrey, the US State Department’s acting special envoy for the antiISIS coalition, said: “The attacks there are horrific, frankly, and show a complete disregard for life... Attacks such as these are clear indicators that ISIS continues to actively seek to spread its malign activity to new fronts.”
Islamists hit the city with a threepronged attack last Wednesday.
The fighting was still raging yesterday as the terrorists claimed responsibilty.
They have killed at least 55, destroyed and taken control of buildings, including factories and banks, and seized vehicles.
The British High Commission in Maputo was unable to confirm that all UK nationals have escaped the massacre.
At least one, Phillip Mawyer, 44, from Somerset, is missing and feared dead.
Former British police officer Nick Alexander, now an oil worker, escaped in one convoy after seizing an assault rifle and shooting dead two fanatics.
Private security company the Dyck Advisory Group has rescued more than 120 people. And one boat offloaded more than 1,000 in nearby town Pemba.
But there is confusion about the number of UK workers still missing.
A 20-strong SBS unit was last night preparing to fly to the military base at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, pending a green light from the Foreign Office.
A handful of SAS personnel in Kenya, helping to train soldiers against terrorism, may join the “task group”.
A source told the Daily Mirror: “At present we are only looking at contingency, being ready to go if the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office officials give the go-ahead.
“Getting information about the situation on the ground is hard. They can only move if there is some sort of hard evidence of Brits bring trapped.
“At this stage it is up to the Foreign Office to establish who is missing and roughly what area they are in.
“Then, if the FCO says rescue them, the Director of Special Forces will give the word – and the team will go.”
UK Africa Minister James Durridge said: “We are contacting British people in the region to provide support.”