Horror and heroism in the three-day 'Battle of Palma': How ISIS-linked terrorists besieged a Mozambique hotel packed with foreign nationals... and the desperate fight for survival of those trapped inside
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.
Terrorists armed with rocket launchers, rifles and machetes rampaged along its palm-lined streets, leaving a trail of beheaded bodies in their 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.
All were now fleeing – alongside local staff and residents – to the Amarula Hotel, a fortified compound on the edge of town. Once an oasis for homesick westerners, it was now a final bastion against a hundred bloodthirsty insurgents.
The initial assault on Palma, in the afternoon of March 24, 2021, would precipitate five days of chaos that left hundreds dead.
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.
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'.
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.
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.
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'
'I asked them what was happening? They said the situation was not good,' he told local TV station TVM. 'Then I began to hear gunshot after 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.
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.
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.
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.
To alert passing aircraft, they used white fabric to mark the word 'HELP' in the 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.
Recalling his first 24 hours inside the compound, one foreign contractor recalled listening 'to this battle through the day and night'.
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.
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.
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.
They evacuated 23 lucky souls on Thursday. Brit Philip Mawer was offered a seat on one of the flights, but heroically turned it down.
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. 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.
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 the South African defended his decision by insisting he had been acting on the orders of its 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.
Back at the hotel, food and water supplies were running low, and the ISIS fanatics had encircled the perimeter fence.
In their desperation, around 170 of the remaining residents decided to attempt a breakout – gathering 17 vehicles in the courtyard before bursting out through a gate.
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.
When the convoy screeched through the hotel's gates, it was immediately met with a hail of gunfire from the insurgents.
Mr Mawer was struck with an RPG and killed. Also cut down in the convoy ambush was Adrian Nel, a South African who had been contracted to build workers' accommodation camps.
His father and younger brother were also in the convoy but managed to escape and hide in the bush.
'He died on a very violent and unnecessary day,' Mr Nel's mother, Meryl Knox, said later. 'It's just devastating, body numbing, mind numbing.'
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.
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. Pictured is the hotel's kitchen
ISIS-linked militants streaming into the coastal town - forcing locals and foreigners to flee for their lives
He told Mr Mawer's inquest that the decision to flee in convoy was 'provoked' by news that insurgents were at the south of the compound and 'the manager leaving on the Everett chopper'.
Mr Alexander described breaking into a government vehicle to seize an AK-47 before heading to the bush to hide with two others.
They spent two days crawling through the dense vegetation before finally being rescued.
Only seven of the 17-car convoy made it past the insurgents. Between 40 to 50 people were inside – many shot and injured. At least seven people were confirmed to have been killed in the ambush, but witnesses believe it was many more.
The survivors scattered into forests, mangroves and nearby villages to avoid capture by the militants, and many were later picked up by DAG mercenaries.
While most of those sheltering inside the hotel had been rescued by the end of the week, it took soldiers several weeks to clear all the remaining terrorists out of Palma.
As they did, they came across countless horrors – including the bodies of 12 people laid under a tree. Each of them had their hands tied behind their backs and their heads cut off.
While the final death toll has not been established, more than a thousand people are believed to have been killed or abducted – the vast majority of them Mozambican civilians.
In the years that followed, French energy giant TotalEnergies came under heavy scrutiny for allegedly blocking a rescue attempt by the SAS. The company was also accused of failing to provide enough fuel for evacuation helicopters.
At this week's inquest, TotalEnergies was said to have acted 'contrary to the interests of Mr Mawer and everyone there' and more people could have been saved if they had provided fuel for helicopters.
A car that was part of a convoy which broke out of the hotel - only to run into an ambush
A Mozambican soldier patrols through Palma in August 2021 after security forces regained control
In response, TEPMA1 – a TotalEnergies Mozambican subsidiary – denied having any responsibility for Mr Mawer and said it could not release fuel to DAG, the private military group working on behalf of the Mozambique government fighting insurgents and rescuing hostages.
Concluding Mr Mawer's inquest, Hampshire coroner Jason Pegg ruled he did not have the evidence to find that corporations had any responsibility for evacuation.
'There's no evidence before me that any corporation had or should have assumed responsibility to formulate an evacuation plan for Philip or affect a rescue for Philip.
'It might be that some within the hotel, perhaps Philip himself, hoped that in their time of crisis a corporation would come to their rescue.
'But because that's what they thought doesn't mean there was any responsibility to do so. The speed of the attack was simply not anticipated.'
Addressing Mr Mawer's two brothers directly, Mr Pegg said: 'Your brother was a true leader.
'He put his team and others first before himself and he did so at a time when it's quite likely, very likely, he would have been in fear.'
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