JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - U.S. petroleum company Anadarko has placed staff working at its liquefied natural gas plant in northern Mozambique under “lock-down” due to the threat from suspected Islamist militants in the area, a regional security consultant familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

“They can’t leave the site,” the consultant, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. Anadarko said last week it was monitoring the situation after a spate of beheadings and kidnappings but declined to comment on specific security issues.