Cabo Delgado: “When we are in this state of abeyance is when we should worry most”

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Cabo Delgado: “When we are in this state of abeyance is when we should worry most”

6:10 CAT | 27 Sep 2021

Raúl Domingos, former Renamo negotiator

The former Renamo negotiator in the Rome Accords points out that the use of landmines is typical of guerrillas. Raúl Domingos fears the silence from the armed group in Cabo Delgado: “We need to be alert, because they can return to the attack with increased force.”

Recently the ACLED (Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project) and some newspapers reported the use of mines by insurgents in Cabo Delgado, although Mozambican Defence Minister Jaime Neto says he is unaware of the matter.

Before the intensification of the military offensive in the northern province of Mozambique, thanks to the reinforcement with forces from Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), there were no reports of use of antipersonnel mines. Raúl Domingos, former chief negotiator of the Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO), comments in an interview with DW Africa about the insurgents’ new “modus operandi”.

DW: Do you think the new use of mines is primarily aimed at military targets?

Raúl Domingos (R.D): First of all, I think it’s an attitude of defending the insurgents’ own strength, insurgents who have been operating as a guerrilla [group]. Using mines is a form of attack and it is co-substantiated in a form of defence. One way to protect yourself is to use mines to stop the advance of motorized ground forces. I don’t have much information about the type of mine they are using, but I believe it is anti-tank and anti-personnel. This is typical of a guerrilla force.

DW: However, an extremist force such as the one operating in Mozambique does not have as a “modus operandi” the use of mines.

R.D.: This leads to another reflection: what is this force at work in Mozambique? Is what we actually observe called terrorism, or was terrorism a means initially used to make an impact about the presence of this force on the ground? In fact, it is a guerrilla force that has the participation of the local youth of Cabo Delgado.

If we also recall, in the past, the Renamo guerrillas had several names. Armed bandits, anti-Semitic agents, instruments of apartheid… This went on right up until 1990, when such “armed bandits” were sitting at the negotiating table with the government. Today, armed bandits are in Parliament discussing the development of Mozambique. So the situation in which we are living today leads us to a great reflection: What kind of forces are we facing?

DW: Do you agree that this new practice of the extremists can only be short-lived, considering their increasing encirclement, with the presence of foreign forces in Cabo Delgado?

R.D.: I find it difficult to answer that question, because I don’t have much information about the military activity that is taking place on the ground. I don’t know what level of encirclement we are talking about, because the coast is very long. Perhaps we are talking about encirclement in Cabo Delgado when they in the meantime may be receiving supplies via other corners of the coast, and the mines reach the bases in Cabo Delgado by land. The fact is that a guerrilla force has several tactics. It can scatter and, later, we [can] hear about actions in other parts of the country.

DW: These forces are apparently in a state of abeyance. Does it seem to you that they can return to active duty with the departure of foreign forces from the north?

R.D.: This is another tactic. Anyone who has learned about guerrilla tactics, read about Mao-Tse-Tung, about Sun Tzu, which are the classics of guerrilla warfare, knows very well that when we are in this state of abeyance is when we should worry most. That’s because we don’t know what they are doing and where they are. When there is combats or attacks, we can locate them. But when there is silence, we need to be more attentive and more concerned, because they can come back to attack with increased force.

Source: Deutsche Welle