UN envoy calls on international community to assist Mozambique in fight against terrorism – AIM report

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UN envoy calls on international community to assist Mozambique in fight against terrorism – AIM report

9:29 CAT | 20 Nov 2020

File photo: MMO

Mirko Manzoni, the Personal Envoy to Mozambique of United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, has called on the international community to “wake up” to the situation in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, and assist the Mozambican government in its battle against islamist terrorists.

In an interview in the Swiss daily “Le Temps”, Manzoni (who was formerly Swiss ambassador to Mozambique) warned “To fight terrorism in a coherent way, you have to be concerned about Cabo Delgado. We are indeed seeing jihadists getting their hands on major sources of funding: trafficking in drugs, rubies or human beings, with the potential to destabilise the region”.

He claimed that foreign fighters are now dominating the jihadist offensive in Cabo Delgado. While most of the fighters in the initial wave of attacks in late 2017 were Mozambicans, nowadays the majority of the jihadists “come from Somalia, Yemen, Libya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They now have very sophisticated weapons. This insurrection reminds me of the situation in Mali in 2012, before the jihadists marched on the capital Bamako, precipitating the intervention of France”.

Manzoni stressed that he is not calling for international intervention in Cabo Delgado, but rather that “military aid must be provided through cooperation. Rather than taking its place, we should help the Mozambican army cope with its duties. I know this is frowned upon. Donors don’t want to get their hands dirty. But it is an illusion to want to develop the province of Cabo Delgado without first securing it”.

He thought it a delusion to pursue dialogue with the jihadists. “In Cabo Delgado, we are dealing with international bandits who try to take advantage of a territory they control without having to win hearts and minds other than through terror”, he said. “Mozambique is not used to this new type of war, where the enemy is capable of exerting extreme violence, as evidenced by the recent beheadings, or rather, people being cut to pieces”.

Asked whether the conflict is linked to the huge fields of natural gas discovered off the Cabo Delgado coast, Manzoni thought there was no direct connection. “Gas extraction takes place far from the coast, and foreign companies are not threatened by what is happening on land”, he said. “The French company Total finances a security service to protect its facilities, but this effort is very modest. Mozambique would need armoured vehicles, personnel carriers, surveillance drones and speed boats to control the coasts”.

Manzoni said he is opposed to the use of mercenaries “but the reality on the ground should give pause for thought. When you call for help and no one moves a finger, this is what happens. Mozambique spends fortunes on mercenaries. First, it turned to the Russians from the Wagner group. They are gone and the Mozambican army is now backed by a South African company”.

He added that “donors contribute to Mozambique’s budget; it would be wiser if they directly aided the Mozambican army without hypocrisy”.

Source: AIM