Special forces were on standby last night as fears grew for missing Brits caught up in the Mozambique massacre.

Special Boat Service commandos were preparing to move to Cyprus and from there stage a rescue operation as the search continued.

The move came as Foreign Office officials launched an investigation amid fears more British civilians are still missing.

Dozens of local civilians and soldiers have been killed, many beheaded, and thousands displaced by Islamic State terrorists storming the city of Palma.

A small number of people fleeing the massacre were taken by helicopter out of the battle.

Witnesses described hiding from hundreds of attackers as beheaded bodies littered a local beach.

US State Department acting special envoy for the anti-ISIS coalition John Godfrey said: “The attacks there are horrific, frankly, and show a complete disregard for the life, welfare and security of the local population.

“Attacks such as these are clear indicators that ISIS continues to actively seek to spread its malign activity to new fronts.”

Islamists hit the town, adjacent to gas projects worth £44 billion, with a three-pronged attack on Wednesday.

Fighting was still raging yesterday and Islamic State claimed the attack via its Amaq news agency.

They had killed at least 55 people, destroyed and taken control of buildings including factories and banks, and seized vehicles.

The British High Commission in Maputo was unable to confirm that all UK nationals have escaped the massacre, with at least one Brit, Phillip Mawer, 44, from Somerset, missing, feared dead.

Former British police officer Nick Alexander, now an oil worker, escaped in one convoy, having seized an assault rifle and shot dead two fanatics.

A large number of a number of Europeans were trapped in a hotel as the insurgency swept through the city.

Private security company the Dyck Advisory Group has rescued over 120 people – but there is confusion about the number of UK workers missing.

One escape boat offloaded more than a thousand refugees in the town of Pemba, nearby.

A 20 strong SBS unit was last night preparing to fly to the military base at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus – pending a foreign office decision.

A handful of SAS personnel in Kenya helping to train government soldiers against terrorism may join the special forces “task group.”

One option may be for the additional force to fly into Kenya to bolster SAS troops already based there and then travel to the Mozambique coast.

One source told the Daily Mirror: “At present we are only looking at contingency, being ready to go if the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office officials give the go-ahead.

“Getting information about the situation on the ground is hard.

“They can only move if there is some sort of hard evidence of Brits bring trapped or in need of support.

“At this stage it is up to the Foreign Office to establish who is missing and roughly what area they are in, then if the FCO says rescue them the Director of Special Forces will give the word and the team will go.”

The Nigerian Army troops of 28 Task Force Brigade in Chibok and Askira have killed about 48 Boko Haram terrorists and rescued 11 abducted victims in an onslaught in Borno, like reported by allafrica.com.

The Director, Army Public Relations, Mohammed Yerima, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday in Abuja.

Mr Yerima said that troops achieved the feat while acting on credible intelligence that some remnants of insurgents were fleeing due to the intensity of troops’ operations in Sambisa Forest.

He said the troops laid ambush for the terrorists on Chibok-Damboa axis, killing nine while several others escaped with fatal gunshot wounds in one encounter.

Mr Yerima said that the troops also recovered seven AK47 Rifles and freed three kidnapped victims.

He said that troops of 28 Task Force Brigade located in Askira also laid a successful ambush along Askira – Chibok Main Supply Route (MSR) and neutralised 39 terrorists in another encounter.

The army spokesperson also disclosed that the troops successfully rescued eight kidnapped victims from the terrorists in the course of the encounter.

“Unfortunately, however, one of the kidnapped victims sustained injury to his leg while in the hands of his abductors.

“He has since been conveyed to a military medical facility for immediate treatment,” he said.

Mr Yerima added that troops recovered another eight AK47 rifles with four magazines, among other items.

According to him, the gallant troops are presently dominating the area with aggressive patrols and are equally on a trail of fleeing terrorists to locate and neutralise them.

“The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru appreciated the gallantry and dexterity of the troops.

“He urged them to remain dogged and maintain their offensive posture in all operations until the area is rid of all remnants of terrorists.

“He equally appreciated members of the public for their continuous support to the troops and enjoined them to continue to provide credible information to the troops and other security agencies operating within their localities.

Three soldiers were killed and seven wounded when two military posts in northern Ivory Coast were attacked early on Monday, five senior military sources said, according to trust.org.

Two assailants were also killed and four others were detained, the sources said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks. An Ivorian army source said the attackers had been identified as from neighbouring Burkina Faso, but this could not be confirmed.

The military sources said two soldiers were killed in a raid on a military camp in Kafolo near the border with Burkina Faso. An officer stationed at another post in nearby Tehini was killed as the assailants fled the scene, they said.

Weapons and other military equipment were seized in the raids, and Ivorian troops were carrying out a search operation in the area, one of the senior military sources said.

Thirteen soldiers were killed when the Kafolo military outpost was ambushed last year. The defence ministry blamed the attack on jihadists, and dozens of suspected militants were arrested.

Armed militant groups linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State present in Ivory Coast’s northern neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso have made incursions in southern coastal states, raising fears the instability could spread further south.

Eleven Malian soldiers were killed and 11 more are missing after Islamist militants ambushed a patrol in the desert north, the army said on Tuesday, like reported by usnews.com.

Fourteen soldiers were also wounded, eight of them seriously, in the attack in the northern region of Gao on Monday, the army said in a statement. It added that seven militants were killed in an ensuing exchange of fire.

Islamist militants, who seized Mali’s desert north in 2012 before being pushed back by French-led forces the following year, have stepped up attacks in the north and centre in recent years. Many are linked to al Qaeda or Islamic State.

Last year was Mali’s deadliest on record due to attacks by the militants, tit-for-tat violence between rival ethnic groups and killings by security forces, according to data compiled by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED).

The militants have also used Mali as a base to extend their operations into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, defying attempts by regional, French and U.N. troops to contain them.

Gunmen on motorcycles attacked a group of civilians returning from market day in a volatile corner of Niger, leaving at least 58 people dead and then burning granaries to the ground, the government said Tuesday, according to wmcactionnews5.com.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Monday’s massacres, though extremists belonging to the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara group are known to be active in the Tillaberi region where the villages were attacked.

The victims were returning home from a large livestock market in Banibangou, near Niger’s troubled border with Mali. The suspected extremists also destroyed nearby granaries that held valuable food stores.

The announcement was read on Niger state television Tuesday evening by government spokesman Abdourahmane Zakaria , who declared three days of national mourning for the victims.

Monday’s attacks underscore the enormous security challenges facing Niger’s new president, Mohamed Bazoum, who won the election in late February to succeed outgoing leader Mahamadou Issoufou.

Not only are jihadis active in the Tillaberi region, but the counterterrorism offensives against those extremists have helped given rise to ethnic militias, analysts say. Intercommunal tensions have been exacerbated as a result, particularly near the border between Mali and Niger.

Monday’s attack echoed a January massacre that left 100 people dead in two villages also in the Tillaberi region that hadn’t been claimed by any extremist group or militia.

Extremists staged mass attacks on Niger’s military in the Tillaberi region, killing more than 70 in December 2019 and more than 89 in January 2020. It’s near the area where four U.S. Special Forces soldiers were killed along with five Nigerien colleagues in 2017.

Northern Mozambique’s humanitarian crisis is growing rapidly, with nearly 670,000 people displaced by the Islamic extremist insurgency in Cabo Delgado province, international aid groups said Tuesday.

Children as young as 11 are being beheaded by the rebels, according to workers for Save the Children, who interviewed grief-stricken families. The number of displaced has dramatically increased by more than 500,000 in the past year and nearly 1 million people are in need of food aid, according to the U.N. A high number of the displaced are dependent upon the generosity of already poor families, with shortages of water, food, and sanitation widespread.

More than 2,600 people have died in the conflict since it started in 2017, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project. In response to the deteriorating security situation in Cabo Delgado, the United States this week sent military specialists to train the Mozambican army to battle the extremists.

The extremists have held the port town of Mocimboa da Praia since August, and in recent months they have attacked several villages and made it unsafe to travel to other centres by road. The extremists are allied with the Islamic State group but are known locally as al-Shabab, although they have no known ties to the extremist rebels in Somalia who go by that name.

The conflict is in a resource-rich area where huge deposits of liquified natural gas have been discovered and the French gas firm Total has embarked on a multibillion-dollar investment. Families fleeing the violence hike for days and nights on paths through the jungle, coming across the remains of those who died on the perilous journey or who were killed by the insurgents, according to Save the Children workers who interviewed survivors.

The rapidly increasing numbers of displaced people come as Cabo Delgado province is still recovering from severe cyclones in 2019. “Reports of attacks on children sicken us to our core,” said Chance Briggs, Save the Children’s country director in Mozambique. “Our staff have been brought to tears when hearing the stories of suffering told by mothers in displacement camps. This violence has to stop, and displaced families need to be supported as they find their bearings and recover from the trauma.”

Last week the Biden administration designated Mozambique’s extremist rebels as a “foreign terrorist organization,” imposing wide-ranging sanctions on the group. War crimes have been committed by all sides fighting in Mozambique’s conflict, including the jihadi rebels, government forces and a South African mercenary outfit that provides helicopter support to government troops, according to international rights group Amnesty International.

The U.S. military specialists will conduct a two-month training program with Mozambican marines “to prevent the spread of terrorism and violent extremism,” the U.S. embassy in Mozambique’s capital, Maputo, said in a statement Monday. In addition to training, the U.S. government will also provide medical and communications equipment, said the statement. Following the reports of abuses in the Mozambican conflict, the short U.S. statement emphasized that the trainers will promote human rights.

“The United States prioritizes the respect for human rights, protection of civilians, and engagement with civil society in all security assistance,” said the statement. “The United States is committed to supporting Mozambique with a multifaceted and holistic approach to counter and prevent the spread of terrorism and violent extremism.”

Military chopper has evacuated wounded soldiers from Damasak to Maiduguri this morning after a fierce battle with ISWAP, a splinter faction of Boko Haram which pays allegiance to ISIS fighter, like reported by dailypost.ng.

Sources within the military on Monday said two soldiers were killed in the aftermath of the battle with the insurgents last night in Damasak.

Also, another impeccable source told DAILY POST that 39 ISWAP fighters were neutralised by the combined effort of the Nigerian military and its Niger Republic counterpart, who engaged the insurgents for over four hours in the battle to reclaim Damasak.

Damasak, the headquarters of Mobbar Local Government Area of Borno State in northeast Nigeria is about 160km from Maiduguri, the state capital.

Damasak has been a target for control by the Boko Haram and other terrorists fighters but have been in the firm hands of the Nigerian troops.

According to residents of Damasak, the town has been attacked many times resulting in heavy casualties on the side of the militants.

“Yesterday’s fight was devastating, and this was the second time the Nigerian military had to withdraw from a battle for Damasak but were also quick to reclaiming their position.” A security expert who did not want to be mentioned told DAILY POST.

“We got a report that there’s threat over the inhabitants of Damasak town as armed men suspected to be Boko Haram sects are regrouping between Songia settlement and Geidam Chuku village under Niger Republic with the intention of attacking Damasak town. But we believe in the military formations at this end which is vigorous and proactive,” he said.

He said when the insurgents attacked, the military made a tactical withdrawal which is an act in warfare to give the enemy the feeling of weakness in order to take them by surprise.

“This is what happened and the end result is the neutralisation of any of them,” he added.

US Special Operations Forces will train Mozambican marines for two months to fight against the jihadist insurgency in the northeastern Cabo Delgado province, the United States Embassy in Maputo said on Monday according to africanews.com.

Armed groups, known locally as al-Shabab (“young people” in Arabic), have been sowing terror for more than three years in the strategic province of Cabo Delgado, which borders Tanzania and is an area that is rich in natural gas.

In 2019 they pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.

“In addition to the training, the US government provided medical and communications equipment,” the embassy said, adding that the American forces who will partake in the program called “Joint Combined Exchange Training” are already in Mozambique.

The move comes as the US designated rebel groups in Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo as foreign terrorist organisations.

The conflict reached a symbolic turning point at the end of December with attacks carried out for the first time just a few kilometers from a multibillion-euro gas project operated by the French oil and gas company Total.

Attacks have reduced considerably in the last few months, which is attributed to increased military response.

But the NGO Amnesty International on March 2 accused the Mozambican forces and mercenaries of “war crimes” for indiscriminately killing civilians during their struggle against the jihadist group in Cabo Delgado.

The army refuted the accusations.

The conflict has left at least 2,600 dead, more than half of them civilians, according to the NGO ACLED.

More than 670,000 people have been forced to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.

“Civil protection, human rights and community involvement are at the heart of American cooperation and are essential to effectively combat ISIS in Mozambique,” the United States said in a press statement.

Attackers killed at least a dozen villagers in an overnight raid on a village in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a witness and two civil rights groups said on Monday, like reported by nationalpost.com.

They blamed the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan militia active in eastern Congo since the 1990s, which has committed dozens of brutal reprisal attacks on civilians since the army began operations against it in late 2019.

Men armed with knives and other weapons attacked the village of Bulongo, around 30 kilometers (18 miles) east of Beni, on Sunday night, the sources said.

“There are 12 bodies lying on the ground,” said Mambo Kitambal, head of a civil society group in Bulongo.

“We fear that this toll could increase especially since the enemy operated for several hours. The victims were executed with pickaxes and machetes,” he said.

On Wednesday the United States designated the ADF as a foreign terrorist organization, accusing it of links to Islamic State (ISIS), although U.N. experts have not found evidence of any direct relationship between the two groups.

The ADF killed about 850 people last year, according to U.N. figures.

“Here in the rain they savagely killed our brothers and sisters with knives and pickaxes,” said Paul Sakata, a resident of Bulongo.

“We regret that the army did not respond last night, which reinforces the fear in the heads of people in this part of the country, who were beginning to hope for peace.”

Congo’s eastern borderlands with Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi are home to around 120 different militias, many of which are remnants of the country’s brutal civil wars that officially ended in 2003.

Elements of Boko Haram terrorists and their Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) counterparts operating along the fringes of the Lake Chad and the Tumbus met their waterloo when they encountered dogged troops of Sector 3 Operation Lafiya Dole on Saturday, 13 March, 2021, like reported by vanguardngr.com.

The combined troops of the Sector which were on clearance patrol along the fringes of the Lake Chad had advanced and cleared Daban Massara and Ali Sherifti villages among other settlements before they harbored for replenishment and retrofitting.

However, as they commenced the second phase of their operations and advancing along the Kukawa – Monguno road, about 14 kilometers to their base, they sighted BHTs/ISWAP gun trucks and swiftly commenced pursuit with heavy fire and deft manouver.

A statement by Brigadier Gen Mohammed Yerima, Director of Army Public Relations disclosed that, “In the course of the hot pursuit which was aided by air cover provided by the Air Task Team of Operation Lafia Dole, several terrorists were neutralized and their gun trucks destroyed.

“Unfortunately however, 1 officer and 3 gallant soldiers paid the Supreme sacrifices while those wounded in action are currently receiving medical attention at 7 Division Medical Services and Hospital in Maimalari Cantonment.

“Above is on-the-spot account of the encounter between Nigerian troops and the Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists in Mugono area and environ. “Members of the public are assured that the troops are on top of the situation and working assiduously to end the insurgency and terrorism in country in line with the directives of the Chief of Army Staff.”