Mozambican soldiers patrol the streets after security in the area was increased following a two-day attack by militants, in Mocimboa da Praia, Mozambique, on March 7, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

Security forces in Mozambique have killed at least 129 militants over a span of one month in the north of the country, which has been rocked by violent attacks over the past several years.

Mozambique�s Interior Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that the 129 killings were the total for the month, adding that they were carried out in retaliation for a massacre in the village of Xitaxi in the Muidumbe district of Cabo Delgado Province in early April, when militants killed 52 villagers who had refused to be recruited to their ranks.

In the statement, Mozambican Interior Minister Amade Miquidade said 39 militants were killed when they attempted to invade Xitaxi on April 7, and 59 were killed in a gun battle three days later on Quirimbas Islands, which lie in the Indian Ocean off northeastern Mozambique. Thirty one others were killed on Ibo Island in the Quirimba�s Archipelago between April 11 and April 13, he added.

Militants have in recent weeks stepped up attacks in the gas-rich Cabo Delgado Province, targeting towns, villages, or government buildings.

Cabo Delgado, a northern province expected to become the center of a natural gas industry after several promising discoveries, has seen a string of assaults on security forces and civilians since October 2018.

Little is known about the militants, but recently Daesh has claimed a number of attacks.

Cabo Delgado Province is already home to multi-billion-dollar gas projects led by foreign companies such as Total.

The attacks in the north of the country have prompted security concerns for investors in Mozambique, one of the world�s poorest countries.

Mozambique�s President Filipe Nyusi has vowed to dedicate more resources to fighting the militancy since his re-election in January, and the government in Maputo is pushing forward with the gas development projects in the province.

Authorities say the Takfiri extremists have been purposefully stoking fear among locals. They say vast gas deposits discovered off the shores of the country could transform the poor nation into one of the world�s largest exporters of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).

Mozambique plans to export natural gas amounting to tens of billions of dollars over the next three decades.

SOURCE: PRESS TV