More than 50 people have been beheaded in northern Mozambique by militant Islamists, state media reports say.
Other reports say the militants turned a village football game into an “execution ground” where they were mutilated and mutilated.
State media reported that many people were also beheaded in another village.
The beheading is the latest in a series of horrific terrorist attacks in the gas-rich Cabo Delgado province since 2017.
Clashes in the predominantly Muslim province have killed at least 2,000 people and left about 430,000 homeless.
The militants are affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) group and have set foot in South Africa.
The group has used poverty and unemployment to recruit young people into the fight to establish their Islamic rule.
Many locals complain that they have benefited little from the province’s ruby and gas industries.
The BBC’s Jose Tembe reports from the capital, Maputo, that the latest attack was probably the worst attack ever carried out by terrorists.
Many are shocked, and they are calling for a peaceful settlement of the conflict, he adds.
The state-owned Mozambique News Agency quoted survivors as saying the gunmen shouted “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great” in English), opened fire and set houses on fire.
Two people were beheaded in the village and some women were abducted, the news agency added.
According to the news agency, a separate group of terrorists carried out a more brutal attack on the village of Muatid, where they beheaded more than 50 people.
They were beheaded and taken to the local football pitch in connection with the atrocities that took place from Friday night to Sunday.
The Mozambican government has appealed for international help in defeating the rebels, saying its troops needed special training.
In April, more than 50 people were beheaded or shot in an attack on a village in Cabo Delgado, and earlier this month, nine people were beheaded in the same province.
Human rights groups say Mozambique’s security forces have also committed human rights abuses, including arbitrary arrests, torture and killings during counter-insurgency operations.
