Islamic State insurgents in Mozambique were mauled to death and eaten by wild lions during with pro-government forces over multi-billion dollar gas reserves.

The ISIS-linked jihadists - labelled ISIS-Mozambique by the US - were attacked and killed by wild animals including lions and crocodiles as they hid from a military operation after attacking villages in Cabo Delgado province in north Mozambique.

Mozambican forces said that they had captured four jihadists who were involved in recruiting and radicalising people and said 16 more had died.

Local police commander Bernardino Rafael said that some died after being hit by gunfire, but others were attacked by snakes, buffaloes, lions and crocodiles.

’Some of them died having been hit by bullets from our forces and others due to attacks by animals like snakes, buffaloes, lions and even crocodiles,’ he told residents, The Times reports.

On Wednesday he met with residents of the Quissanga district in the northern Cabo Delgado province of the southern African nation.

’They are dying from gunshot wounds... Many of them [were] wounded by our weapons. But even animals also contribute to the death of the Islamist insurgents,’ he added according to BBC World Africa.

He said the population was burying some of the dead jihadists - under the supervision of the authorities - who had succumbed from recent and previous injuries, while some had been devoured by the animals.

Violence in Cabo Delgado has escalated since 2017 over their liquified natural gas (LNG) reserves worth billions of dollars, which are the third-biggest on the continent.

Several western firms are have given some of the largest investments in Africa, worth billions, to exploit these reserves. These include a $20billion project from French firm Total Energies. But the project was suspended in March last year after a raid on the coastal town Palma.

The EU has also said they will provide more support to an African military mission to help reduce reliance on Russian gas.

At least 24 countries have sent soldiers to assist Mozambique including Rwanda who have an army involved in peacekeeping operations.

Rwanda first sent 1,000 troops in July 2021 and cleared insurgents from key areas in just three weeks, according to BBC World Africa.

Deaths in Cabo Delgado have already topped 4,000 and around 950,000 people have been displaced from their homes. The province which borders Tanzania is the only area of Mozambique with a Muslim majority and is a heavily neglected area.

AE News