Reason for attacks in the north of Mozambique divides academics

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Reason for attacks in the north of Mozambique divides academics

12:01 CAT | 21 Jun 2018

The origin of violent attacks in northern Mozambique divides historians in the United Kingdom, who attribute them either to radical Muslim ideology or the marginalisation of young unemployed people in the region.

Eric Morier-Genoud, a professor of history at Queens University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, told Lusa news agency on Monday that the origin of the attacks lay “in a Muslim religious sect that has developed since 2014 in Mocímboa da Praia [northern Mozambique], which has people in mosques in other areas, and which turned to violence in 2016 and 2017”.

Attacks, allegedly committed by groups with Islamic inspiration and which entail beheadings, looting and the burning down of houses, have occurred in remote villages in northern Mozambique since October 2017.

Authorities however have been able to offer any definitive clarification despite the hundreds of arrests which they say they have made.

The latest wave of violence began on May 27, when 10 people were killed in two remote villages. The final number of victims is expected to range from 30 to 40, according to witness statements, but the authorities have issued no official figure.

Source: Lusa