MOZAMBIQUE

Hours after French hydrocarbon giant Total announced it would resume full operations at its Afungi Peninsula natural gas facility, Islamist insurgents launched a major assault on the nearby port town of Palma, killing dozens and triggering a mass exodus. The Islamic State claimed the attack. The gas project itself does not seem to have been a target, but the incident has shaken confidence in the government’s ability to protect foreign investment sites, not to mention civilian lives. For the first time since the insurgency began in 2017, militants killed expatriate workers. Crisis Group expert Dino Mahtani says a purely military response to the insurgency will not address the social grievances that sparked it.