Mozambique: Extremists killed 1127 in 384 attacks in 2021 – U.S. Department of State report

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Mozambique: Extremists killed 1127 in 384 attacks in 2021 – U.S. Department of State report

9:49 CAT | 01 Mar 2023

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Lusa]

The Islamic State extremist group carried out a total of 384 attacks in Mozambique in 2021, which resulted in 1,127 deaths among civilians, Mozambican armed forces and combatants, according to a report by the US State Department known today.

According to the Country Reports on Terrorism 2021, a document published by the bureau of counterterrorism by the US Department of State on terrorist activities around the world, the year under review was marked, in Mozambique, by the capture of Palma town, in Cabo Delgado province, north of the country, by the Islamic State in Mozambique (ISIS-M) in March 2021, and by the subsequent response bythe Mozambican Defence Forces with the support of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mission in Mozambique and the Rwandan Defence Force (RDF), which “recovered significant amounts of territory” under the control of the terrorist group.

“On March 24, ISIS-M attacked the northeast town of Palma, creating thousands of IDPs as ISISM expanded its control over the province,” and “in response, TotalEnergies halted its natural gas development operations in nearby Afungi peninsula and declared force majeure, 2notes the report.

From July of the same year, however, the deployment of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mission in Mozambique and Rwandan Defense Force (RDF) “assisted the Mozambican Defence and Security Forces (FDS) to regain territory, including Palma and Mocímboa da Praia, a strategic port town that ISIS-M had taken in 2020″.

This response also allowed the Mozambican Government to announce on November 30 of that year that ” troops had captured 245 suspected terrorists and killed 200 terrorists in battle”.

On the other hand, the dispersion of the terrorist group was at the origin of several attacks on villages, including in two districts of Niassa province, neighbouring Cabo Delgado, points out the US State Department.

The report estimates that ISIS-M maintained [in 2021] around 800 active operatives in northern Mozambique and the comprehensive designation of ISIS-M employed in the report includes entities as diverse as the armed groups; Ansar al-Sunna: Helpers of Tradition Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jamaa or al-Shabaab in Mozambique, among others.

The report details the main terrorist incidents that occurred in 2021, starting with the attack and seizure of Palma on March 24 of that year, which led to the displacement of 50,000 people.

On 12 September, ISIS-M ambushed a convoy of Rwandan forces in Mocímboa da Praia district, killing four RDF soldiers and injuring six others. and on 2 October, it kidnapped seven women ffrom Nacate village in Macomia district, in the south of Mocimboa da Praia.

“In November and December, ISIS-M moved across the provincial line into Niassa province for the first time” and “attacked several villages in Mecula and Marrupa districts,”, according to the text of the US State Department, equivalent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. .

“On December 15, ISIS-M reportedly decapitated a Christian pastor in Macomia district and ordered his wife to give his head to the FDS.”, details the report.

The report notes” new legislation to amend current terrorism laws” introduced by the Mozambican government, namely criminal penalties for domestic terrorism-related offenses. However “there were no significant changes in 2021 to Mozambique’s law enforcement CT capacity” it reads. “Border security continued to be a challenge for Mozambique, with no significant changes” in 2021, it adds.

Countering the financing of terrorism deserves a particularly negative note from the US Department of State, resulting from the observation of “important technical compliance gaps” and the lack of a National Risk Assessment (NRA), “factors that put Mozambique at risk of placement on FATF’s ‘gray list’ of countries publicly named as deficient on illicit finance measures”.

The Mozambican government “started to address these gaps by drafting new laws on domestic terrorism, money laundering, and terrorism finance, as well as an NRA, though all were pending completion at year’s end,” notes the report.

Cabo Delgado province has been facing an armed insurgency for five years with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.

The insurgency has led to a military response since July 2021 with the support of Rwanda and SADC, liberating districts next to the gas projects, but new waves of attacks have appeared in the south of the region and in the neighboring province of Nampula.

The conflict has already displaced one million people, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and around 4,000 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project.