Battle of Palma

Battle of Palma
	Part of the insurgency in Cabo Delgado
	; A building destroyed during the battle
Date	24 March – 5 April 2021; (1 week and 5 days)
Location	Palma, Cabo Delgado, Mozambique10°46′32″S 40°28′22″E
Result	Mozambican government retakes Palma, rebels maintain control over its surroundings and continue to raid the town; Palma is mostly destroyed; Oil and gas company Total SE suspends local operations;
Belligerents
Mozambique	Islamic State (IS); Non-IS rebels
Commanders and leaders
Chongo Vidigal (FADM); Agostinho Muthisse (FADM); Pedro da Silva Negro (FADM); Lionel Dyck (DAG)	Bonomade Machude Omar (alias "Ibn Omar"); Abu Yasir Hassan; Unidentified Mozambican, Tanzanian, and Somali commanders
Units involved
Mozambican security forces Mozambique Defence Armed Forces (FADM) Land Forces Special forces; ; Air Force; Navy; ; Police (UIR); Private military companies Dyck Advisory Group (DAG); Paramount Group; Control Risks (support role)	Ansar al-Sunna; Islamic State's Central Africa Province (IS-CAP); "Unidentified group" independent of IS
Strength
FADM:; Unknown soldiers, 40 DAG-trained policemen; 2 Mil Mi-24s, 1 Mil Mi-17; DAG:; c. 30 personnel; 3 Aérospatiale Gazelles, 2 Eurocopter AS350 Écureuils, 1 Aérospatiale Alouette III	300+; 2 or 4 boats
Casualties and losses
21+ killed (Pinnacle News); 1 helicopter damaged or shot down	Unknown; 2 boats destroyed
	1,190+ civilians killed and 40,000 displaced; 1 cargo ship possibly hijacked
	Location of Palma Battle of Palma (Africa)

The Battle of Palma or the Battle for Palma was fought during late March and early April 2021 over control of the city of Palma in Mozambique, between the Mozambique Defence Armed Forces, other Mozambican security forces and private military contractors on one side, and Islamist rebels reportedly associated with the Islamic State (IS) on another side. The Islamists invaded the city, killing dozens of people before Mozambique regained control days later. Palma was left destroyed, and a major oil and gas company decided to suspend all operations in the area due to the battle. Researchers have described the battle as an overall success for the insurgents. The rebels also maintained their presence in the town's surroundings, and continued to raid Palma in the following weeks. The battle was part of the insurgency in Cabo Delgado, which started in 2017 and has resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, mainly local civilians.

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