ISIS jihadists overrun paradise islands where Bono and Daniel Craig holiday before torching luxury villas and imposing Sharia law

· Luxurious Indian Ocean island of Vamizi, Mozambique, has been razed by ISIS

· Prince Albert of Monaco honeymooned there, former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela stayed there, as did footballer Christiano Ronaldo

· Vamizi and smaller islands are today strategic bases from which the jihadists threaten liquefied natural gas reserves worth billions of pounds

Ross Ibbetson, Mailonline

17 September 2020

ISIS jihadists have overrun paradise islands where Bono and Daniel Craig holiday, torching luxury villas and imposing Sharia law.

Luxurious hotels and beach-front villas on the island of Vamizi, Mozambique, have been razed to the ground by the Islamist terrorists.

The residents were ordered to abandon their homes before A-list eco-retreats were torched, witnesses said.

The scuba-diving heaven was visited by Prince Albert of Monaco on his honeymoon, footballer Christiano Ronaldo and late President of South Africa Nelson Mandela.

Today, along with three other neighbouring islands, militants calling themselves Islamic State Central Africa Province have commandeered the white sands.

It comes after IS last month captured and established Sharia law in the nearby strategic port town of Mocimboa da Praia on the mainland, in the gas-rich province of Cabo Delgado.

The assault is the latest in an intensifying three-year insurgency in the country’s north which has killed at least 1,300 people and threatened plans worth billions to turn Mozambique into the ’Qatar of Africa.’

Mocimboa da Praia lies less than 50 miles south of Afungi peninsula where a liquefied natural gas facility, one of Africa’s biggest single investment projects, is located.

It is believed that ISIS may use their new islands to launch amphibious assaults to cut off these lucrative supply lines.

Energy companies have been forced to build new facilities to avoid contact with the insurgents and villages along the edge of the zone are often raided, The Times reports.

Britain is supporting the development of the gas field with a £1 billion loan.

Centrica, British Gas’s parent company, has pledged to buy 2.6 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas from the Afungi peninsula for the next 20 years.

A resident of Mecungo island told AFP that the ISIS fighters arrived under cover of darkness and rounded up the villagers.

’They told us to run if we want to live. Everyone left the island,’ the resident said.

The majority Muslim population of the northernmost Cabo Delgado province, which borders Tanzania, is also the location of one of the world’s largest ruby mines.

The newfound naval prowess of the ISIS militants and their strategic bases on the coast has caused concern among security analysts.

The IS-affiliated group has the stated goal of establishing a caliphate in the region.

In addition, it has threatened ’franchise’ attacks in South Africa if it deploys troops to help its neighbour.

ISCAP has claimed several attacks since June 2019 via social media, often posting images of slain soldiers and caches of weapons.

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