Mozambique: USA committed to avoiding a new Boko Haram in Cabo Delgado – Lusa

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Mozambique: USA committed to avoiding a new Boko Haram in Cabo Delgado – Lusa

3:36 CAT | 07 May 2020

File photo: AFP

The US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Tibor Nagy, has expressed concern about the attacks in northern Mozambique, saying that the United States is committed to a response that will stop the escalation of violence.

“The insurgency in northern Mozambique is very worrying. It has grown from a small group to a much larger movement over the past year or year and a half. We hope that Mozambique will give it its full and systematic attention,” said Tibor Nagy, speaking yesterday (Wednesday) from Washington during a telephone ‘briefing’ with journalists to address U.S. support for the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic on the African continent.

Tibor Nagy compared the violent attacks by armed groups in northern Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province with the rise of the extremist group Boko Haram in Nigeria and stressed the need to halt the escalation of violence.

“Boko Haram was only a small movement and because of the way the Government of Nigeria initially responded to it, it has grown to become a very serious threat not only to northeast Nigeria but also to neighbouring countries,” he said.

“Our embassy with some partners are fully committed to discussing with the Mozambican authorities how best to respond to this insurgency and prevent it from becoming what Boko Haram has become in Nigeria,” he added.

The north of Mozambique is the scene of attacks by armed groups, classified as a terrorist threat and which have already killed at least 500 people.

The Mozambican authorities number 162,000 affected by armed violence in that province.

At the end of March, the towns of Mocímboa da Praia and Quissanga were invaded by a group, which destroyed several infrastructures and raised its flag.

On that occasion, in a video distributed on the Internet, an alleged ‘jihadist’ militant justified the attacks by armed groups in northern Mozambique with the aim of imposing Islamic law in the region.

This was the first message issued by the perpetrators of the attacks that took place two and a half years ago in Cabo Delgado province, recorded in one of the villages they invaded.

Source: Lusa