Mozambique: Islamic State claims another attack, death of four soldiers

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Mozambique: Islamic State claims another attack, death of four soldiers

7:09 CAT | 02 Jan 2024

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

The Islamic State terrorist group claimed responsibility on Sunday for a new attack in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, in which it says four soldiers were killed, the third attack of its kind known this month.

According to information provided by the terrorist group on its propaganda channels, the attack took place this week and killed four soldiers from the Mozambican army and the International Military Security Assistance Mission (SAMIM).

On the same channels, the terrorist group presented alleged evidence of the clashes with the military that it has been fighting in Cabo Delgado recently, particularly in the Macomia district.

Lusa has not yet been able to confirm the veracity of this information on the ground, and the Mozambican government does not comment on this type of attack.

On Friday, the terrorist group claimed another attack in Cabo Delgado in which it said nine soldiers were killed.

Earlier, on 9 December, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack in Cabo Delgado in which five soldiers died and also claimed to have beheaded a Christian civilian.

The province of Cabo Delgado has been facing an armed insurgency for six years, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State, which has led to a military response since July 2021, with support from Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), liberating districts near gas projects.

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

On 22 November, Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi called for decisions on the capacity of the Armed Forces in Cabo Delgado to respond, namely with reservists, in view of the planned withdrawal of foreign forces supporting the terrorist groups on the ground.

“Concrete decisions on the response capacity of the Armed Forces in relation to their action in the fight against terrorism in Cabo Delgado in the period after the withdrawal of friendly forces from SAMIM [the SADC mission in Mozambique] and Rwanda,” asked Nyusi, at the opening of the XXIV Coordinating Council of the Ministry of National Defence.

“To this end, your reflection should also assess how best to capitalise on the wealth of reservists, committing them directly or indirectly to various missions for the defence of our country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. And the current reality justifies it,” he added.

Last August, the SADC summit approved a 12-month extension of the mission in Cabo Delgado until July next year. Last July, an evaluation mission proposed the complete withdrawal of SAMIM soldiers in Cabo Delgado by July 2024, pointing out that the situation in the province “is now calm”, although the risks remain.

In its recommendations, the assessment mission advises the gradual start of SAMIM’s withdrawal from 15 December this year and the completion of the withdrawal on 15 July 2024, i.e. one day before the end of the extension decided on Tuesday last week by the SADC ‘troika’.

In addition to SAMIM and the Mozambican government forces, Rwandan troops are fighting the insurgency in Cabo Delgado, operating on the perimeter of the area where the natural gas projects in the Rovuma basin are located.

Source: Lusa