10 villagers beheaded by Mozambique extremists

Muslim militants have beheaded 10 villagers, women and children among them, in northern Mozambique, raising fears that Islamist extremists are gaining a new foothold in Africa.

Sunday’s attack on the village of Mojane, news of which only filtered out yesterday, represented the worst atrocity in a seven-month insurgency by a shadowy group calling itself Ansar al-sunna. The raid in Cabo Delgado province will also renew scrutiny on Gemfields, a British mining company, whose alleged abuses are said to have encouraged extremist recruitment.