Action in Palma aims to divide Maputo’s military assets – Fernando Jorge Cardoso

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Action in Palma aims to divide Maputo’s military assets – Fernando Jorge Cardoso

9:09 CAT | 31 Mar 2021

Photo: TVM

Researcher and academic Fernando Jorge Cardoso says that the attack on Palma constitutes the most visible manifestation of the insurgency in northern Mozambique, and that its aim is to divert Maputo’s military resources from the retaking of Mocímboa da Praia.

The town of Mocímboa da Praia has been occupied for several months by insurgents, some of whose actions have been claimed by the Islamic State terrorist movement. The latest attack, on Palma, will pose new problems for the Mozambican military, which has already announced the start of actions on the ground after the end of the rainy season, which is now occurring, Fernando Jorge Cardoso told Lusa.

The retaking of Mocímboa da Praia, the scene of the group’s first attack in 2017, and the largest centre in the north of the province of Cabo Delgado, “was announced by the Mozambican military chiefs themselves”, Cardoso stressed, admitting that the attack on Palma, by reason of its visibility, “is also a way of diverting attention and personnel from what had apparently been announced as one of the main goals on the part of the Mozambican Armed Forces [Mocímboa]”.

According to images released by the Islamic State agency, the attack was carried out by “a group of at least 100 extremist fighters” who have supposedly already carried out attacks in several locations in the interior of Cabo Delgado, such as Nangade and Naumanga.

“The attack on Palma is particularly important from the point of view of visibility, because it appears on the international media in the main Western countries, particularly in the United States,” Cardoso notes.

Added to this is its proximity to the Afungi natural gas exploration platform, managed by the French company Total, which makes it “very natural that, after three or four months in which the Islamic State has not issued any statements about what is happening in Cabo Delgado”, it now comes out “saying ‘We took Palma’”, Cardoso points out.

Cardoso, a researcher at ISCTE – Instituto Universitário of Lisbon, said the claim by the Islamic State “may be an opportunistic pronouncement”, in the sense of “We are [still] alive”.

One of the reasons for the attack on Palma on Wednesday could be the arrival of a ship, chartered by merchants and the oil company Total, laden with supplies for the towns near the border with Tanzania.

“The attack on Palma coincides with the arrival of this chartered ship,” Cardoso notes, and there is evidence that the “combatants were having difficulty surviving” due to lack of supplies, he said.

In Mozambique, he adds, there has been a change in the model of conflict management, with the Armed Forces taking a more active role, compared to the police and security forces.

Cardoso does not consider the presence of foreign military personnel essential for the success. “For reasons of effectiveness it doesn’t make sense,” he said.

Maritime support (already supplied by South Africa), and the training and reinforcement of logistical support with armaments, information, surveillance, will be the most suitable areas for military cooperation, which should prioritise Mozambique’s special forces.

“The Mozambican marines lost Mocímboa da Praia because, purely and simply, they ran out of ammunition,” Cardoso said, downplaying the lack of open international support in fighting the rebels.

“Regardless of bad governance and abuses of authority in Mozambique, and regardless of the negligence on the part of the local authorities, I do not see that the Mozambican government is interested in losing this war,” he stressed.

The researcher said that the insurgents are considered a sect by the Islamic majority in the province and are not liked by the population. Proof of this is the fact that they kidnap boys to train as soldiers and girls for sexual purposes, he added.

Dozens of civilians, including seven people trying to flee the main hotel in Palma, in northern Mozambique, were killed in the attack on Wednesday.

The Islamic State terrorist movement on Monday claimed control of the town of Palma. AMAQ, the movement’s official news agency, claimed the occupation of the capital of the district, near the border with Tanzania.

Several countries have offered Maputo military support to help fight the insurgents, some of whose actions have been claimed by the self-proclaimed Islamic State. So far, however, this has not yet happened, although there are reports that security companies and mercenaries are active in the area.

Source: Lusa