<p>About 300 militants from Mozambique attacked a village in southern Tanzania and killed an unknown number of people last week, Tanzania's top police officer said, describing an attack claimed earlier by the Islamic State.</p>.<p>Inspector-General of Police Simon Sirro said militants attacked the village of Kitaya in Tanzania's rural Mtwara region bordering Mozambique.</p>.<p>"Terrorists numbering 300, coming from Mozambique, attacked our station and the village of Kitaya, and committed crimes and they killed," Sirro said in an interview with Azam TV, a private Tanzanian chain, broadcast late Thursday.</p>.<p>He did not specify the number of people killed, nor give a date for the attack.</p>.<p>He said police had arrested and were interrogating some of the militants while others were believed to have returned to Mozambique.</p>.<p>It was the first time authorities in Tanzania have acknowledged that an escalating Islamist insurgency in northern Mozambique with links to Islamic State is also active in Tanzania.</p>.<p>IS claimed the attack in a message on one of its Telegram channels on Oct. 15, which said its fighters had attacked an army barracks in the village a day earlier, killing a number of personnel and capturing weapons and ammunition.</p>.<p>Attacks in Tanzania have been far more sporadic and less deadly than those in Mozambique, where the militants have killed hundreds of people since their first attack in 2017.</p>.<p>Analysts say the group has transformed since then into a formidable force that can seize and hold significant locations.</p>.<p>The group pledged allegiance to IS in 2019 and Islamic State has claimed a spate of recent attacks in the impoverished Cabo Delgado province, boasting one of the biggest gas finds in a decade just off its coast.</p>.<p>Multinational companies including Exxon Mobil and Total are developing the gas in projects worth some $60 billion.</p>
<p>About 300 militants from Mozambique attacked a village in southern Tanzania and killed an unknown number of people last week, Tanzania's top police officer said, describing an attack claimed earlier by the Islamic State.</p>.<p>Inspector-General of Police Simon Sirro said militants attacked the village of Kitaya in Tanzania's rural Mtwara region bordering Mozambique.</p>.<p>"Terrorists numbering 300, coming from Mozambique, attacked our station and the village of Kitaya, and committed crimes and they killed," Sirro said in an interview with Azam TV, a private Tanzanian chain, broadcast late Thursday.</p>.<p>He did not specify the number of people killed, nor give a date for the attack.</p>.<p>He said police had arrested and were interrogating some of the militants while others were believed to have returned to Mozambique.</p>.<p>It was the first time authorities in Tanzania have acknowledged that an escalating Islamist insurgency in northern Mozambique with links to Islamic State is also active in Tanzania.</p>.<p>IS claimed the attack in a message on one of its Telegram channels on Oct. 15, which said its fighters had attacked an army barracks in the village a day earlier, killing a number of personnel and capturing weapons and ammunition.</p>.<p>Attacks in Tanzania have been far more sporadic and less deadly than those in Mozambique, where the militants have killed hundreds of people since their first attack in 2017.</p>.<p>Analysts say the group has transformed since then into a formidable force that can seize and hold significant locations.</p>.<p>The group pledged allegiance to IS in 2019 and Islamic State has claimed a spate of recent attacks in the impoverished Cabo Delgado province, boasting one of the biggest gas finds in a decade just off its coast.</p>.<p>Multinational companies including Exxon Mobil and Total are developing the gas in projects worth some $60 billion.</p>