An investigation carried out by American writer and journalist Alex Perry estimates that around 1,200 people died or disappeared in the rebel attack on Palma, Cabo Delgado province, in March 2021 and in the violence of the following days.

"In total, 1,193 people have been killed or are missing (presumed dead) and another 209 people have been kidnapped," and among the dead there are 156 under the age of 18, including babies and children, he says on his personal website.

The results of the investigation, published last week, detail that 432 people are missing, 366 people have been shot and 330 beheaded.

According to Alex Perry, no organization (governmental or otherwise) has yet presented an estimate of the number of victims of the attack that paralyzed the gas project led by TotalEnergies and aggravated the humanitarian crisis in the province, which has been under fire from insurgents since 2017.

The gap seemed so "astonishing" to the author that he used 20,000 dollars from a prize (George Polk Awards) obtained with another report he wrote on the attack to return to Cabo Delgado and finance the investigation.

"We heard about hundreds of deaths, but there was no balance sheet," he recalls.

Alex Perry explains that the figures were obtained door-to-door in 13,686 homes in Palma and 15 surrounding villages between November 2022 and March this year, by a team he hired, "carefully" in terms of accuracy and mastery of local languages.

"We were meticulous: 97% of the deaths are identified by name, age, gender, address and the way they died," he says.

Alex Perry estimates that the number is higher, because the analysis of the results was "conservative", excluding dubious information, and because it only covers civilians (in the communities surveyed), excluding casualties among the military, insurgents and gas project workers.

Asked what he wants to achieve with the publication, the author says that, as a journalist, he just wants to "establish a fact".

"What people do with facts is no longer my job," he said.

Perry adds to the collection a condemnatory opinion of TotalEnergies, holding it responsible for what happened: "We're not saying that Total killed anyone, but it promised security" which only existed for the fenced-off area of the project, he accuses, and with Mozambican forces that never showed the capacity to protect the population.

"You can't pretend to be a good neighbor" and then "not pay attention" when more than a thousand people die or have no interest in counting the dead, Perry said.

The author has shared the data with the French oil company and Mozambican government authorities, but says he has received no response.