At least 17 people have been killed, 10 of them beheaded, since May in the town of Palma, near the Tanzanian border. The United Kingdom joins in the United States in issuing a warning about the attacks.

“The Foreign and Commonwealth Office advice against all but essential travel to the districts of Palma, Mocimboa de Praia and Macomia in Cabo Delgado province due to an increase in attacks by groups with links to Islamic extremism,” the office said in a warning posted on its website.

Six men wielding machetes killed at least seven people and injured four others this month in the predominantly Muslim region. Ten people were beheaded last month, and local media reported at least two were children.

Mozambique has not been a focal point of Islamist militant activity in the past and police have been reluctant to ascribe the attacks to Islamists. About 30% of Mozambique’s 30 million people are Roman Catholics; about 18% are Muslim.

--Reuters--