Mozambican police on Saturday were investigating the deaths of two young men found beheaded in a northern province prone to jihadist attacks.

Shadowy attacks blamed on Islamists have hit the gas-rich Cabo Delgado province for two-and-a-half years, claiming more than 700 lives.

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At least 100 000 people have been displaced by the violence, according to the United Nations and humanitarian agencies.

The two headless corpses were found last Sunday in a road in Pemba, the capital of Cabo Delgado, a local resident told AFP.

It was the first such attack in the city and in the province’s south. Jihadist violence has so far been confined to the northern areas.

“Two young men were shot and beheaded near the jail where people accused of being insurgents are being held,” a local said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“From the way they were murdered, we think it is an al-Shabaab job,” he said, referring to jihadists.

‘We are afraid’

The police confirmed two deaths but did not give any details.

“We collected the bodies for the morgue. We are working with forensic medicine to clarify the case,” said local police spokesperson Augusto Guta.

A police source said the pair was killed for refusing to join the ranks of the jihadists.

“We have information that insurgents are chasing people who received money to join the attacks but then fled,” said the source.

Pemba has around 200 000 residents.

“We are afraid,” a resident of Pemba’s working-class Cariaco district said.

“Here in our neighbourhood there are strange people. At any moment we fear that the attacks will occur in our homes.”

The government of President Filipe Nyusi has on several occasions vowed to eradicate “criminals” in the region and launched a fightback, with the help of mercenaries from Wagner, a private Russian firm.

But they have so far failed in their efforts to stop the attacks.