catherine byaruhanga, bbc news, nairobi.estelle senior research associate at the american enterprise institute. i asked how these militant groups had become so powerful. so this insurgent group in northern mozambique is part of a broaderjihadi movement that includes al-qaeda and similar groups and this group is linked to islamic state. this group is a combination of long standing jihadist networks in eastern africa which have global goals with local mobilisation focused on more local issues and grievances. the injection of expertise from those networks has made this group more deadly as it became active in 2017 and so that explains some of the extreme violence we're seeing now. and it seems, at the moment, government forces are just simply no match. unfortunately, that is the case. the mozambican government and its forces face a number of challenges. one is the size and capability of the military against an insurgency that is remote, but other challenges include reports that there have been abuses by security forces and poss

catherine byaruhanga, bbc news, nairobi.elle is a senior research associate at the american enterprise institute think tank. she's in evanston north of chicago. let us try and understand a bit of the context. how is it that these groups of islamist militants have become so powerful in this region? sure. so this part — powerful in this region? sure. so this part of _ powerful in this region? sure. so this part of northern - so this part of northern mozambique is part of a group that includes many islamist factions. this group is a combination of long standing jihadist networks in eastern africa which have global goals with local mobilisation focused on issues and grievances. the injection of expertise from those networks is made this group more deadly as it became active since 2017 and that explains some of the extreme violence were seeing now. it seems, at the moment, government forces are simply no match. ., . , government forces are simply no match. ., ., , ., , match. unfortunately that is the case- — match. unfortunately

the bbcs catherine byaruhanga reports.rapped in the far north—eastern corner of mozambique. but help finally came. on the gangway, you can see some of the people who finally made it to safety. civilians risk their lives to charter boats and ships for the rescue mission in palma, but many are still missing. sonia omar is worried for her brother's safety, and describes this as a horrible and unfair situation. live rounds and mortar shells have been let loose in palma since wednesday. local islamists linked to isis have waged a brutal insurgency in this region since 2017. its people, already terrorised by the violence, had to flee once again. eyewitnesses described seeing dead bodies, some of them beheaded, on roadsides and on beaches. south african meryl knox�*s son, adrian nel, was killed as he tried to escape. her husband and younger son made it out of palma, but she says they were left to their own defences. you can imagine, no army to protect them, none of them having weapons, so it was a matter of run for your life. thi

catherine byaruhanga, bbc news, nairobi. let's return to the easing of lockdown in england.e first time in months, children's parties can take place, as adina campbell reports. so, you're pressing into your heels, and your head—chest stays up. that's it. feeling the burn in the fresh air. for these mums in manchester, they're now able to get fit again outdoors and, more importantly, socialise face—to—face. oh, it feels great. ifeel happy already, i'm happier than i've been without being able to do anything like this, definitely. it's been quite difficult, actually, a bit isolating, not being able to meet new mums, so this is really exciting we can do this now. now that the stay—at—home message in england has been lifted, outdoor group activities can once again continue, meaning up to 15 parents can take part in parent—and—child groups, and this next stage out of lockdown means friends and family can finally see each other in open spaces, providing they stay socially—distanced. but for the time being, they have to stick to the rule of six, which also includes children of all

our correspondent catherine byaruhanga has this update.palma, you had a group of foreign workers, and then even local residents in palma, who all congregated at the amarula hotel. they had been trapped there for two days, and then finally, on friday, they tried to make a break for it, to try to get to the beach and hopefully onto boats that would take them to safety. now, what we understand from people on the ground is that this convoy came under attack twice, at least seven of the vehicles were hit. some of the people tried to run back to the hotel, others we understand did eventually manage to get out of palma. but right now, it's very hard to verify numbers. i've been speaking to emilia columbo — senior associate at the research organisation the center for strategic and international studies. she was also a senior africa analyst at the cia. as i understand it, on wednesday, the insurgents launched a three—pronged attack against the town. it appears they may have earlier infiltrated the town, either mixed up with other refugees or just s

catherine byaruhanga has this update. when the attack began, you had a group of foreign workers, and then even local residents in palma who were all congregated at the hotel. they had been trapped there for two days, and finally, on friday, they tried to make a break for it to try to get to the beach and hopefully onto boats that would take them to safety. now, what we understand from people on the ground is that this convoy came under attack twice, at least seven of the vehicles were hit. some of the people tried to run back to the hotel, others we understand did eventually manage to get out of palma. but right now, it is very hard to verify numbers. to russia now. the opposition politician alexei navalny says he's being woken up by a guard every hour during the night while in prison. he says it amounts to torture and his appeals for medical attention have been refused in a deliberate attempt to wear him down. he's the most prominent critic of president putin and was jailed for two and a half years in a case he claims wa

our correspondent catherine byaruhanga has this update.p of foreign workers, and then even local residents in palma who were all congregated at the hotel. they had been trapped there for two days, and finally, on friday, they tried to make a break for it to try to get to the beach and hopefully onto boats that would take them to safety. now, what we understand from people on the ground is that this convoy came under attack twice, at least seven of the vehicles were hit. some of the people tried to run back to the hotel, others we understand did eventually manage to get out of palma. but right now, it is very hard to verify numbers. witnesses claim parts of the northern town of palma in mozambique have been destroyed with bodies lying in the streets. security analysts say the islamist group al shabab, based in somalia, trained the insurgents and they now say this group has now pledged allegiance to isis and is proving to be better prepared and equipped than expected. as we heard, french energy giant total has had to suspend production at it

bbc africa correspondent catherine byaruhanga has more.re is really a sense of relief this evening for a lot of families and friends that had been searching desperately for their loved ones. we understand from humanitarian organisations and diplomatic sources on the ground in the city of pemba that hundreds of people that had been stranded in the town of palma have managed to make it to safety. now this has been a desperate operation that has been carried out by civilians. we have had a mixture of vessels, from ships to cargo ships, boats as well, even just people's personal boats that they've used to travel all the way up to palma, risk their own lives to try and get people from this town that has been overrun by islamists. some of the people that have made it to safety, we understand, are workers from international companies that had been working at this massive gas project close to palma. they have also made it to safety, but we haven't had confirmation from these companies. you talk about a massive civilian effort here. what's the gove

installation run by international oil companies is now under rebel control. 0ur correspondent, catherine byaruhangaastern mozambique is that there appears to be a lot of casualties from three to four days of this battle over the town. and we've heard from eyewitnesses that there have been dead bodies lying on there have been dead bodies lying on the road sides, by the beach and the real concerns that the fatalities around this attack. we real concerns that the fatalities around this attack.— real concerns that the fatalities around this attack. we heard there was a huge — around this attack. we heard there was a huge grow) _ around this attack. we heard there was a huge group of _ around this attack. we heard there was a huge group of local- around this attack. we heard there was a huge group of local and - was a huge group of local and foreign workers trapped in a hotel that are trying to get out, what happened was 7 ?pb ? pb had a group of foreign workers and even local— ? pb had a group of foreign workers and even local residents _ ? pb had a group of foreign workers and even local residents in

the bbc�*s africa correspondent catherine byaruhanga reports.perate journey for many who had been trapped in the far northeastern corner of mozambique. on the gangway you can see some of the people who've finally made it to safety. civilians risk their lives to charter boats and ships for the rescue mission in parma. but many are still missing. she is worried for her brother is safety. and describes this as a horrible in unfair situation. describes this as a horrible in unfairsituation. live describes this as a horrible in unfair situation. live rounds and mortar shells have been let loose in parma since wednesday. local islamist link to isis to have wage a brutal insurgency in this region sense 2017. it's people already terrorised by the violence had to fleet once again. i witnesses describe seeing dead bodies, some of them beheaded on roadsides and on beaches. south african her son was killed as he tried to escape. her husband and a younger son made it out of parma. but she says they were left to their own defenses. you out of parma. but she s

installation run by international oil companies is now under rebel control. 0ur correspondent catherine byaruhangaon we have from palma in northeastern mozambique is that there appear to be a lot of casualties from 3—4 days of this battle over the town. we have heard from eyewitnesses, there have been dead bodies lying on the roadsides, by the beach, so there are real concerns about the fatalities from this attack. catherine, we know there was a group of, what, about 180 local and foreign workers trapped in a hotel that tried to get out. what happened ? so, when the attack began, you had a group of foreign workers, and then even local residents in palma who were all congregated at the hotel. they had been trapped there for two days, and finally, on friday, they tried to make a break for it to try to get to the beach and hopefully onto boats that would take them to safety. now, what we understand from people on the ground is that this convoy came under attack twice, at least seven of the vehicles were hit. some of the people tried to run back to the hotel, others we understand did eventually manage