Overview

• Islamic State Mozambique Province propaganda photos released this week depict the beheading of Christian civilians and the burning of churches and homes across Chiúre, Ancuabe and Muidumbe districts
• U.N. data show that attacks between July 20 and 28 displaced at least 46,667 people in northern Mozambique, with children making up nearly 60 percent of those uprooted
• On July 27, Islamic State Central Africa Province fighters attacked the village of Komanda in the DRC’s Ituri province, killing at least 45 residents and torching a Catholic church along with dozens of buildings
• Rwandan troops continue to bolster Mozambican forces in an eight-year counterinsurgency, yet militants are exploiting security vacuums around natural-gas sites and worsening environmental crises to expand their reach
• International bodies, including the U.S. State Department, MEMRI and Médecins Sans Frontières, have stepped up terrorism designations and emergency aid, but regional forces have yet to stem the surge in religiously targeted violence