Survivors told of their terror after they fled an attack by ISIS-linked extremists on a gas plant in Mozambique last month.
Thousands of people were forced to seek refuge after the coastal town of Palma was overrun and seized on March 24.
Several foreign companies were based in the area, which is home to a $20 billion natural gas project.
The true death toll remains unknown, but last week it was confirmed that British contractor Phil Mawer was among the casualties.
Eyewitnesses recounted their horror at seeing bodies, some decapitated, as they escaped to areas still under control of the Mozambique military.
"I had lost hope of living. Never in my life had I run so much," Mariamo Assane told AFP after she reached safety in Pemba, the capital of the northern Cabo Delgado province about 200 kilometres south of Palma.
Ms Assane, who is her 30s, recalled the grim sight of bodies scattered along the way as she fled.
Lionel Dyck, the owner of Dyck Advisory Group, a private military company helping Mozambican forces fight the extremists, told the BBC that when his team reached Palma on the first day of the attack "there were bodies lying on the road".
The corpses of some truck drivers delivering food aid were "lying next to their vehicles without heads", he said.
Heavily pregnant Fato Abdula Ali, 26, said she went into labour shortly after she and her two small children fled Palma.
As she trekked through the bush, the inevitable happened and she gave birth, on her own, before being taken to Pemba.
Lying on a hospital bed next to her newborn son Salimo, her eyes downcast, she recounted the "saddest moment" of her life when she had to abandon her children as she ran for her life.
Adding to the trauma, she said she does not know the whereabouts of her husband.
Nvita Nchute, 30, is another person lucky to be alive. He was taken by ship to Pemba last week, although he now doesn't know where his wife is.
He said he was at a local market when shooting started.
"I couldn't go back home to look for my wife," he said with tears streaming down his face, as he sat at a temporary shelter in Pemba's Eduardo Mondlane neighbourhood, popularly known as Expansao.
Morasse Ali, 26, said he spent four days in the bush without food or water.
"Those bandits arrived at my house, captured my family and took them away," he said. He has no idea if his wife and son are dead or alive.
The UN said it recorded nearly 10,000 civilians who made it to safety since the Islamist raid was launched on March 24.
The UN agency for migration said an estimated 23,000 survivors are gathered on the Afungi peninsula, near French energy giant Total's gas site, which is guarded by Mozambique's military.
The situation remains volatile and security concerns forced the UN on Friday to temporarily halt evacuation flights from Afungi to Pemba.
Muana Macasse Ali said his parents remain trapped in Afungi.
He said he hid in the bush "for three days without eating and even drinking water".
Mozambican military officials said that a significant number of insurgents were killed in the battle.
Total reportedly suspended operations at the plant, which was Africa’s biggest gas project.
"Total trusts the government of Mozambique, whose public security forces are currently working to take back control of the area,” the company said.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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more from Janine di Giovanni
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Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
Company%20Profile
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%E2%80%98FSO%20Safer%E2%80%99%20-%20a%20ticking%20bomb
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Stuck in a job without a pay rise? Here's what to do
Chris Greaves, the managing director of Hays Gulf Region, says those without a pay rise for an extended period must start asking questions – both of themselves and their employer.
“First, are they happy with that or do they want more?” he says. “Job-seeking is a time-consuming, frustrating and long-winded affair so are they prepared to put themselves through that rigmarole? Before they consider that, they must ask their employer what is happening.”
Most employees bring up pay rise queries at their annual performance appraisal and find out what the company has in store for them from a career perspective.
Those with no formal appraisal system, Mr Greaves says, should ask HR or their line manager for an assessment.
“You want to find out how they value your contribution and where your job could go,” he says. “You’ve got to be brave enough to ask some questions and if you don’t like the answers then you have to develop a strategy or change jobs if you are prepared to go through the job-seeking process.”
For those that do reach the salary negotiation with their current employer, Mr Greaves says there is no point in asking for less than 5 per cent.
“However, this can only really have any chance of success if you can identify where you add value to the business (preferably you can put a monetary value on it), or you can point to a sustained contribution above the call of duty or to other achievements you think your employer will value.”
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
Boulder shooting victims
• Denny Strong, 20
• Neven Stanisic, 23
• Rikki Olds, 25
• Tralona Bartkowiak, 49
• Suzanne Fountain, 59
• Teri Leiker, 51
• Eric Talley, 51
• Kevin Mahoney, 61
• Lynn Murray, 62
• Jody Waters, 65
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
The biog
Mission to Seafarers is one of the largest port-based welfare operators in the world.
It provided services to around 200 ports across 50 countries.
They also provide port chaplains to help them deliver professional welfare services.
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
