The Mozambican Ministry of Defense announced that its forces began Sunday a military operation to retake the coastal city of Palma from militants linked to the Islamic State group, who had taken control of it after attacks that killed dozens.

The ministry's spokesman, Omar Saranga, told a press conference in the capital, Maputo, that the army was in confrontation with militants in several locations in order to retake the town, which is located near the border with Tanzania, and includes one of the largest private gas investments in Africa, worth 20 billion dollars, in which Total invests. Total) France 4 billion dollars.

Saranga added that the army seeks to contain what he described as terrorist attacks, and to restore the normal situation in Palma, noting that it has managed to save hundreds of citizens and foreign nationals.

The same spokesman confirmed the killing of dozens of civilians at the hands of the militants linked to ISIS, who called themselves "Al-Shabab."

For its part, Reuters quoted a diplomatic source and another security source, that government forces have not yet been able to retake the town, which fell in the hands of the attackers on Friday evening after confrontations that lasted 48 hours.

Palma is located in an area where Total is leading a foreign investment project near its LNG plant on the Avongi Peninsula, and the project was halted in January due to security tensions and the escalation of the insurgency in Cabo Delgado province (northern Mozambique).

The gunmen started the attack on the city of Palma a day after Total announced its intention to resume work on the project near Mozambique's northern border with Tanzania.

Bodies in the streets and are displaced

"Human Rights Watch" quoted witnesses as saying that many bodies were dumped in the streets of Palma town, and that some of the victims had been beheaded.

And identical sources reported that the gunmen targeted hotels housing foreign workers in the gas project, and most of these foreigners were from South Africa, Britain and France.

A convoy of trucks escaping from the town came under fire by the militants before reaching the shore, killing at least 7 people and missing others, while hundreds managed to flee on board a ship to the city of Pemba, which is located to the south, and others hid in the forests surrounding the town.

The British newspaper "The Times" reported that a British contractor was killed during an attack on a hotel in Palma.

For its part, the French company Total announced the evacuation of about a thousand of its employees from the town of Palma, and Mozambican Foreign Minister Armendo Ngunga said that a ship had evacuated them.

The militants had started their attacks in northern Mozambique since 2017, and managed to take control of the city of Mocimboa in Cabo Delgado province, and those attacks resulted in the deaths of at least 2,600 people and the displacement of 670,000 others, according to the United Nations.