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The descent into hell began at 4pm, when the distant crackle of gunfire shattered the sultry stillness of the afternoon.
In Palma, a pretty coastal town in northern Mozambique, ISIS-linked militants were attacking from three directions – overwhelming members of the local security forces.
asserted
militants → see → forces
Terrorists armed with rocket launchers, rifles and machetes rampaged along its palm-lined streets, leaving a trail of beheaded bodies in their wake.
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Terrorists → arm → wake
Six miles away from Palma was a $20billion (£15billion) gas project run by French energy giant Total, so the town was packed with foreign contractors, several of them British.
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several → run → them
All were now fleeing – alongside local staff and residents – to the Amarula Hotel, a fortified compound on the edge of town.
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All → flee → town
The initial assault on Palma, in the afternoon of March 24, 2021, would precipitate five days of chaos that left hundreds dead.
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that → precipitate → hundreds
Among them was Philip Mawer, a 58-year-old from Somerset who was working as a project manager for RA International – a Dubai-based firm contracted to build accommodation for gas workers.
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who → work → workers
Mr Mawer's inquest at Winchester Coroner's Court this week revealed previously unknown details about his remarkable heroism – including his decision to refuse an airlift out of the Amarula Hotel in favour of 'women and children'.
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inquest → reveal → women
It has also shed new light on the harrowing experience faced by those trapped inside the compound during the 'Battle of Palma', and their desperate attempts to survive.
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It → shed → Palma
On the first day of the attack, a Wednesday in Mozambique's hot season, Amarula Hotel worker Eusebio Alves Pinto was just finishing his shift when he saw people running towards the compound.
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people → finish → compound
ISIS-linked militants celebrate capturing the town of Palma in Mozambique in March 2011
People trapped inside the Amarula Hotel used white fabric to mark out the word 'HELP'
'
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People → link → word
I asked them what was happening?
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what → ask → them
They said the situation was not good,' he told local TV station TVM.
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he → say → TVM
'Then I began to hear gunshot after gunshot.'
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I → begin → gunshot
Mr Alves Pinto quickly turned on his heels and joined the crowds pouring into the hotel.
For the people of Palma, the attack could hardly have come at a worse time.
uncertain
attack → turn → time
Not only was the town packed with contractors developing the area's gas industry, it was also home to thousands of refugees fleeing violence in other parts of Cabo Delgado – the mainly Muslim province where an Islamist insurgency began in 2017.
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insurgency → pack → 2017
Up until March 24, the Amarula Hotel had been a home-from-home for foreign contractors, who enjoyed wandering around lush landscaped grounds dotted with 60 air-conditioned rooms, a swimming pool and a seafood restaurant.
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who → enjoy → rooms
Initially, the 200 or so people inside were able to send messages to their families to let them know what was happening, but the telephone and Internet lines were soon cut.
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lines → send → families
To alert passing aircraft, they used white fabric to mark the word 'HELP' in the courtyard.
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they → alert → courtyard
On the other side of an eight-foot high wall were rebels from an ISIS-linked group that locals knew as Al-Shabaab – despite it having no connection with the infamous Somali group that goes by the same name.
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that → link → name
Recalling his first 24 hours inside the compound, one foreign contractor recalled listening 'to this battle through the day and night'.
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contractor → recall → day
By Thursday – a day after the initial assault – 'mortar bombs were landing at our fence [and] the bullets were hitting the hotel,' he told the BBC.
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he → land → BBC
By this point, the battle against the militants had passed from the Mozambican military to the Dyck Advisory Group (DAG), a South African private security firm hired by the country's government.
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battle → pass → government
Despite the ever-present threat of gunfire, the company began airlifting people from the hotel in helicopters, which could carry six people at a time.
uncertain
which → begin → time
They evacuated 23 lucky souls on Thursday.
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They → evacuate → Thursday
Brit Philip Mawer was offered a seat on one of the flights, but heroically turned it down.
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Mawer → offer → it
Up until March 24, 2021, the Amarula Hotel had been a home-from-home for foreign contractors
British contractor Philip Mawer in the hotel's grounds with the two dogs that were airlifted out alongside the hotel's manager.
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that → airlift → manager
He died shortly after during an attempted breakout
After another hellish night, Friday morning dawned with another helicopter evacuation flight carrying hotel manager Timothy Roberts – accompanied by his two German Shepherd dogs.
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morning → die → dogs
Mr Roberts has been heavily criticised for 'abandoning' the hotel, and Mr Mawer's inquest this week heard claims he 'locked the fridges and switched off the WiFi' before jumping into the aircraft
But
uncertain
he → criticise → aircraft
the South African defended his decision by insisting he had been acting on the orders of its owners.
asserted
he → defend → owners
Meanwhile, the helicopter pilot insisted the dogs were put in the hold, so they did not take up spaces that could have been used by other evacuees.
uncertain
that → insist → evacuees
Back at the hotel, food and water supplies were running low, and the ISIS fanatics had encircled the perimeter fence.
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fanatics → run → fence
Mr Mawer took part in the convoy but declined a spot in an armoured B6 truck, opting to drive himself in a more lightly defended vehicle.
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Mawer → take → vehicle
When the convoy screeched through the hotel's gates, it was immediately met with a hail of gunfire from the insurgents.
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it → screech → insurgents
Mr Mawer was struck with an RPG and killed.
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Mawer → strike → RPG
Also cut down in the convoy ambush was Adrian Nel, a South African who had been contracted to build workers' accommodation camps.
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who → cut → camps
His father and younger brother were also in the convoy but managed to escape and hide in the bush.
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father → manage → bush
'He died on a very violent and unnecessary day,' Mr Nel's mother, Meryl Knox, said later.
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mother → die → day
'It's just devastating, body numbing, mind numbing.'
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It → numb → ?
Nick Alexander, a dual British-South African citizen, was in the final vehicle in the convoy that attempted to escape, with Mr Mawer just one vehicle ahead of him.
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that → attempt → him
The bar area in the hotel shortly after it was recaptured by members of the security forces
Western contractors, staff and locals rapidly ran out of food during the siege.
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contractors → recapture → siege
…and 22 more, not listed.
The Aporia
