Mozambique: Mayor of Maputo laments state of municipal bus company
The International Crisis Group (ICG) organisation has placed Mozambique on the list of countries or regions under a “conflict risk alert” after the political and military situation worsened in February.
According to the monthly report from the ICG, which is headquartered in Brussels, Mozambique is bracketed with Afghanistan, Chad, Somalia, Turkey, Venezuela and Zimbabwe and the Korean peninsula.
Events in February justified the worsening assessment, beginning early in the month with Renamo rejecting talks with Mozambican president Filipe Nyusi.
Last month, the ICG says, Renamo blocked roads in Sofala province, having attacked civilian vehicles and caused deaths and injuries, leading security forces in Mozambique to resume armed escorts along a stretch of about 100 kilometres of the N1 in the region.
The ICG, which promotes the prevention and resolution of deadly conflicts, also said that elements affiliated to Renamo killed community judge and Frelimo party secretary Manecas da Silva in Sofala.
The ICG also highlights military operations to disarm Renamo in Tete province, causing the exodus of about 6,000 refugees to neighbouring Malawi and sparking calls for the Mozambican government to investigate complaints of executions and sexual abuse by the security forces.
The ICG’s “conflict risk alert” is assigned to a country where violence has occurred and is expected to continue in the following month. The indicator is only used when the organisation registers or fears new violence or a significant escalation.
The International Crisis Group NGO was founded in 1995 by a group of people disappointed by the failure of the international community to anticipate and respond effectively to tragedies in Somalia, Rwanda and Bosnia in the early 1990s.
Among the founders are Morton Abramowitz, a former US ambassador in Turkey and Thailand, then president of the Carnegie Legacy institution for International Peace, and Mark Malloch-Brown, former president of the United Nations Development Programme and later Deputy Secretary-General of the UN and a minister in the UK government.
According to the founders, the idea was to create a new organization with highly professional staff, “acting as the eyes and ears of the world” to analyze and prevent conflicts, and able to mobilize the international community in conflict resolution processes.
Currently, the International Crisis Group is recognized as a leading source of information and analysis on conflicts, as well as an adviser on policies for the prevention and resolution of deadly conflicts.
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