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Mozambicans rescued by a DAG helicopter in Palma this week. The gunner’s face has been darkened for security reasons (Photo: DAG)
The South African private military company credited with saving many lives during a major attack by insurgents linked to the Islamic State in the northern Mozambique city of Palma over the past week appears to be on its way to disappearing. The Dyck Advisory Group (DAG) was recently accused by Amnesty International of “indiscriminate shootings” while pursuing insurgents.
Max Dyck, an executive at Dyck Advisory Group (DAG), said Daily maverick Maputo did not renew the contract. Another source said the DAG would fly its last departure on Friday and then leave.
However, another security source said that negotiations between the DAG and the Mozambican government were “still ongoing.”
The DAG’s six light helicopter gunships have kept insurgents at bay in many places and have also picked up more than 200 expats and locals and brought them to safety. They often appeared to be the only ones fighting the insurgents.
“There are still skirmishes in and around the city, although the level is quite low compared to the last few days,” Dyck said. Daily maverick on Tuesday. “It looks like the FADM [the Mozambican military] he’s starting to move to the city. “
Dyck said the company’s pilots had rescued “a couple hundred” people since insurgents attacked the city on Wednesday. Several expatriate survivors, including South Africans, have said they owe their lives to the DAG. For much of the fighting, the company has been all that stood between expatriate contractors or locals and insurgents, whose signature modus operandi is death by beheading.
The DAG has been helping the Mozambican army and police fight the insurgents for a year and its contract expires on April 6. It has been speculated that Maputo could extend it, as the Mozambican military does not seem willing to do without the DAG.
The government’s plan appeared to be to replace the DAG with larger Russian-made Mi17 and Mi24 helicopters piloted by Mozambicans and Ukrainians, as well as light Gazelle helicopters, such as those used by the DAG, supplied by the South African arms company Paramount and piloted by Mozambicans. . trained by Paramount at its flight school in Polokwane. But these other planes don’t appear to be combat ready. Three of the Russian helicopters were reported to have briefly joined the battle on Thursday, but then withdrew after one was hit by AK-47 fire from the ground.
They did not appear to fly again and some expats who survived the attack expressed anger that the much larger Russian helicopters would have been able to airlift significantly more people to safety than the small DAG Gazelle helicopters. Apparently, the Mozambican pilots who will fly the Gazelles have not yet completed their training.
Despite the DAG’s performance, Dyck said Daily maverick: “No, our contract will not be extended,” adding that the Mozambican government had not given them any reason for their decision. “Of course, if they had asked us to stay, we would have.
“I hope they have a plan for when we leave.”
He thought that a recent Amnesty International report, criticizing the DAG for its operations, might have been a factor in Maputo’s decision. The report accused the DAG of indiscriminately shooting or bombing civilians from the air while pursuing insurgents. Amnesty was much more critical of the insurgents for their brutal tactics of beheading civilians and of government forces for deliberately killing civilians.
However, another security source said Daily maverick that negotiations between the DAG and the Mozambican government were still “ongoing” Tuesday night and clarity was expected by Wednesday night.
This source said that the DAG hoped to extend its contract for three months initially, to give it time for future negotiations.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the South African Air Force (SAAF) repatriated six citizens who had fled the insurgent attack and also brought home the body of South African Adrian Nel, who had been killed by insurgents on Friday.
A SAAF plane flew first to KwaZulu-Natal, where Nel had lived, and then to Gauteng, said Clayson Monyela, a spokesman for the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco).
He added that Health Department officials had tested the passengers for Covid-19 upon arrival in KwaZulu-Natal. Monyela said that the South African High Commissioner in Maputo will continue to help South Africans affected by the violence.
Nel was killed on Friday afternoon when he, his father and his brother joined a convoy of 17 vehicles that tried to escape from the Amarula Lodge in Palma, which had been surrounded by insurgents.
The convoy, which was heading to the beach in hopes that they could be rescued by boats, ran into two insurgent ambushes, according to survivors. Only seven of the vehicles made it through the ambushes, but seven people in those vehicles were shot dead and others injured. It is unclear what exactly happened to the occupants of the ten vehicles that failed to break through the ambushes.
The convoy passengers were expatriates, mostly contractors at the Afungi site, or locals who had fled to Amarula Lodge for protection.
Some survivors of the ambush made it to shore, where they were picked up by boat, while others fled into the bush. DAG helicopters began rescuing them on Saturday morning and dropping them inside the Afungi compound. They were transferred by plane or boat, including several volunteer boats, to the port city of Pemba, 230 km to the south.
On Monday, Dirco announced that so far he had counted 43 of the South Africans who had been in Palma during the attack. That included Nel, the only South African to die. But South Africa’s High Commissioner in Mozambique, Siphiwe Nyanda, told the Daily Maverick that they were still trying to account for another 10 to 15 South Africans. DM
