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The Herald
MAPUTO. – Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi said on Wednesday the government was aware of Islamic radicalization in the northern province of Cabo Delgado five years before jihadists launched a bloody insurgency there.
More than 2,300 people have died and more than 570,000 have fled their homes since a shadow group, known locally as Al-Shabab, unleashed their campaign in the gas-rich province.
In a state of the nation address to lawmakers, Nyusi revealed the identity of the group’s alleged leaders and details about the rise of his organization.
“The radicalization was promoted by a citizen of Tanzanian nationality identified as Abdul Shakulo,” he said.
“He urged disobedience to the constitution, prohibited Muslim children from attending (state) schools, and required them to attend madrasas or Koranic schools,” he said.
“The criminal activities of these groups, which call themselves Islamists, began in 2012. The government of Mozambique already knew (of them) in 2012 and managed to contain their expansion until 2017.”
In 2017, jihadists attacked three police posts in the city of Mocimboa da Praia, killing two policemen.
Since then, the group has carried out more than 500 attacks, according to ACLED, a US-based NGO that documents the violence.
Government forces have been unable to contain their advance.
But Nyusi said that many of the movement’s leaders died in combat and that the government promised to equip and train its troops to overcome the insurgency.
“Mozambicans need to develop our capacities internally. We will be the ones who will be in the first line of defense of our Homeland. The government will do everything possible to make this process happen, ”he said.
Nyusi added that the group’s leadership was “mostly foreign” and named five men who he said had been killed fighting the security forces.
“Among the terrorists killed in combat, there are citizens of Tanzanian origin, Congolese, Somalis, Ugandans, Kenyans and mostly Mozambicans,” he said.
Several countries have been offering aid to Mozambique to fight the jihadists, including former colonial ruler Portugal, the United States, France, Spain and Russia, Nyusi said.
“We are intensifying international cooperation to combat terrorism,” he said, adding that the various proposals are being evaluated to ensure a coordinated strategy. – CGTN.
