Gunmen have attacked six communities and torched a teacher training college in Quissanga district, in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, in the space of less than a week, a development that marks an escalation in attacks on the gas-rich province.

 A mysterious insurgency that emerged in 2017 has worsened over the years and is now claimed as an affiliate by the Islamic State, ISIS. The brunt of the impact is being felt by the local population, who risk being abducted or even beheaded in attacks on villages and the province's roads.