ISIS soldiers behead Christians in Mozambique, burning church and homes: 'Silent genocide'

ISIS soldiers behead Christians in Mozambique, burning church and homes: 'Silent genocide'

Danielle Wallace

International observers are reporting that ISIS-aligned soldiers are beheading Christians and burning churches and homes in central and southern Africa – with some of the most brutal attacks happening in the nation of Mozambique.

A counter-terrorism research nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. – is sounding that alarm about what it describes as a "silent genocide" taking place against Christians. 

The Islamic State Mozambique Province (ISMP) recently released 20 photos boasting of four attacks on "Christian villages" in the Chiure district, in Mozambique's northern Cabo Delgado province, according to MEMRI. 

MEMRI said the photos show ISIS operatives raiding villages and burning a church and homes. The images also allegedlydepict the beheadings of a member of what the jihadists consider "infidel militias" and two Christian civilians. Rampaging jihadist groups celebrated the killings. Photos also showed the corpses of several members of those so-called "infidel militias," according to the institute's analysis. 

"What we see in Africa today is a kind of silent genocide or silent, brutal, savage war that is occurring in the shadows and all too often ignored by the international community," MEMRI Vice President Alberto Miguel Fernandez told Fox News Digital. 

"That jihadist groups are in a position to take over not one, not two, but several countries in Africa – take over the whole country or most of several countries – is dangerous," Fernandez, a former U.S. diplomat, said. "It's very dangerous for the national security of the United States let alone the security of the poor people who are there – Christians or Muslims or whoever they are." 

The Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP) also recently released several photos of their own documenting a July 27 attack against the Christian village of Komanda in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Ituri province. Islamic State-affiliated soldiers opened fire at a Catholic Church and set fire to homes, stores, vehicles and possessions. At least 45 people were killed, according to MEMRI. The photos show burning facilities and the corpses of Christians. 

Fernandez explained to Fox News Digital that the goal of these jihadist groups is "eliminating Christian communities," as they push down from safe havens and Muslims are "given a choice: ‘either join us or you too will face killing and annihilation.’

"Christians, of course, are not going to be asked to join," Fernandez told Fox News Digital.  "Christians are going to be targeted and destroyed." 

The United Nations migration agency said Monday that attacks by insurgents in Mozambique's northern Cabo Delgado province displaced more than 46,000 people in the span of eight days last month. 

The International Organization for Migration said nearly 60% of those forced from their homes were children. 

In a separate report, the U.N.'s humanitarian office said the wave of attacks between July 20 and July 28 across three districts in Cabo Delgado caused the surge in displacements.

While the United Nations references attacks, its reporting has not detailed deaths or specified the targets. At least nine Christians in the Cabo Delgado province were reportedly killed in separate attacks by Islamic insurgents during that timeframe.