French prosecutors said Saturday, March 15, they had opened a manslaughter investigation against oil giant TotalEnergies following a bloody 2021 jihadist attack in Mozambique.
Islamic State-linked militants killed dozens of people when they attacked the Mozambican port town of Palma in March 2021, sending thousands of people fleeing into the surrounding forest. The attack in Cabo Delgado province lasted several days. There is no official death toll. Some of the victims were beheaded.
In October 2023, three survivors and four relatives of victims of the attack near a major gas field in northern Mozambique had launched legal action against the oil major, accusing it of failing to protect its subcontractors.
The investigation into involuntary manslaughter and failure to assist persons in danger was launched on Friday, the Nanterre prosecutor's office told Agence France-Presse. The investigation was first reported by Franceinfo.
There was no immediate reaction from TotalEnergies.