Hunting lodge owned by ex Man Utd coach is burned to the ground in 'deadly' attack in Mozambique with US nationals evacuated

At least three Americans were evacuated after suspected insurgents attacked a camp co-owned by football coach Carlos Queiroz in a wildlife reserve in northern Mozambique, a source familiar with the incident said on Friday.Queiroz, who coaches Ghana's national team and was Sir Alex Ferguson's assistant manager at Manchester United, said he was awaiting information from military and security authorities to ascertain what had happened.'From the images I have access to, it appears that the entire establishment has been burned down,' he told Reuters in a telephone call from Lisbon.Queiroz said the area was currently off-limits due to the insecurity, and that he had no direct information from the site.The Mozambican independent English-language digital publication Zitamar News first reported the incident late on Thursday, suggesting there had been some fatalities.Regional analyst Tertius Jacobs said he believed insurgents had abducted a number of civilians. None of the reports could be verified.Mozambique has been battling an Islamic State-linked insurgency in the gas-rich northern province of Cabo Delgado since 2017, a conflict that has killed thousands of people and displaced hundreds of thousands.A US State Department spokesperson said the US Embassy in Mozambique was aware of an attack on a hunting lodge close to the Niassa Special Reserve, near Cabo Delgado and one of Africa's largest protected wilderness areas, but did not confirm whether any Americans were affected.The source, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the camp had been burned but there were no confirmed fatalities. The source said the three Americans had been out hunting when the attack occurred, and that staff had fled and Mozambique's military had responded. At least three Americans were evacuated after suspected insurgents attacked a camp co-owned by football coach Carlos Queiroz (pictured) in a wildlife reserve in northern Mozambique File image of the Lugenda river in Niassa Game Reserve, MozambiqueThe Mozambican government did not respond to a request for comment.The State Department had warned its citizens not to travel to the Niassa Special Reserve for any reason, adding that terrorists had targeted upscale hunting lodges in and near the area and taken hostages.Last year, in a similar attack in the Niassa Reserve, a tourist camp was destroyed and six people including four rangers were killed during skirmishes.Big-game hunting in the reserve, which runs from May to November, often draws groups from the US. Mr Jacobs, an analyst at Focus Group, which monitors the insurgency, said the attack took place near Marangira village in Niassa province, and that insurgents had abducted several civilians and looted supplies before withdrawing towards Cabo Delgado.He said available information corroborated reports that three Americans had been affected, but that casualty figures and the number of those abducted remained unverified.Mozambique has been ravaged by violence for the last nine years. Since 2017, the resource-rich northern part of the country has been fighting against an ISIS-affiliated group called al-Shabab, which holds no affiliation with the Somali group of the same name. It also goes by the name of Islamic State Mozambique Province (ISMP). Attacks have been surging since last August, leading to thousands of people fleeing. Since the conflict began, over 1.3million people have fled their homes. In late 2025 alone, 100,000 people were displaced.ISMP is believed to have as few as 300 members. But it is still one of the most lethal groups operating in Mozambique. It emerged in the early 2010s, at a time when several similar groups were forming. Though the north of Mozambique is rich with rubies, gold and natural resources like gas, it is among the poorest parts of the country. Agitation worsened following the discovery of natural gas in 2010, which saw multinational firms muscle their way into the region. In 2017, around 30 ISMP fighters launched a series of brutal attacks on police stations and civilians in the port town of Mocimboa de Praia, setting off what would become nearly a decade of brutal violence. Fighters told locals that they had carried out the attacks as they rejected state institutions and Western educations, and aimed to establish an religious state. Between 2017 and 2019, at least 464 civilians were killed. In 2019, the group was formally acknowledged by ISIS thanks, in part, to its brutal killings. ISMP were known for beheading civilians on local football pitches. They would also execute innocents with guns and burn their homes to the ground. Attacks reached their worst in 2020 when the terror group seized the town of Mocimboa de Praia, sending government forces fleeing. Between 2017 and 2020, at least 2,000 civilians were killed.