> By early March 2021, Islamist rebels had begun to besiege the town of Palma. The rebels beheaded civilians from nearby villages, as well as refugees who were trying to flee the town. On 7 March, the rebels took the border post [...], isolating Palma from the rest of Mozambique. The civilians who remained in Palma faced starvation. ACLED analyst Jasmine Opperman argued that an assault on Palma was expected, and that security experts had warned foreign embassies and the Mozambican government that the militants were planning an attack, only to be ignored.