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From: TT
Published:
February 1 | Photo: Marco Longari / AFP / TT
A pile of coal after an attack on the village of Aldeia da Paz on the outskirts of Macomia in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique.
Armed with machetes, they burn villages and slaughter their victims, including women and children. Extremists who have pledged their allegiance to IS are getting stronger in Mozambique, which faces a completely new situation, according to one expert.
The village soccer field became a “place of execution” where Islamist militants beheaded and dismembered their victims. More people died in the same way in another village, Mozambique media reports, claiming that up to 50 people may have recently been victims of the latest extremist act in Cabo Delgado (Cabo Delgado) in northern Mozambique.
“They burned the houses and then they followed the neighbors who fled into the forest and began their macabre actions,” said police officer Bernardino Rafael at a press conference about writing in the Miudumbe and Macomia districts.
Requires research
UN Secretary General António Guterres is dismayed by the reports and has called for an investigation. The information is difficult to confirm as Mozambique has prevented journalists and human rights groups from working in the conflict zone and many international aid organizations have fled.
– The situation has worsened in just a few months, the attacks have become more visible and the deaths many more, Cristina Udelsmann Rodrigues, senior researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala, tells TT.
Extremists have been terrorizing the gas and mineral-rich Cape Delgado for three years. At first, they operated primarily in the shadows, attacking distant towns, attacking soldiers on isolated stretches of the road, and keeping a generally low profile around their motives.
Over time, they have become more and more daring. Earlier this year, extremists pledged allegiance to ISIS and increasingly expressed that the goal was to establish a caliphate in the northern province. The jihadists managed to take control of the port of Mocimboa da Praia and have intensified their attacks against civilians.
Since 2017, some 2,000 people have died in the riots. Many have had their throats cut with a machete, according to an analyst with the human rights organization Human Rights Watch. Others have been kidnapped and 400,000 people have been forced to flee their homes.
Unclear IS connections
However, it is not clear what the connections are between the extremists in Cabo Delgado and the Islamic State in the Middle East. The propaganda aired on IS channels often includes details and images of events in Mozambique, but according to experts, it is difficult to determine whether Mozambican extremists are obeying orders from abroad or simply benefiting from the violent brand of the global network.
– Previously, insurgents were driven primarily by economic motives. They wanted to take advantage of the dark and illegal business surrounding the extraction of natural resources in the area, says Udelsmann Rodrigues.
However, since they swore allegiance to the Islamic State, their religious motives have become increasingly pronounced. But if they are not fully funded by any foreign terrorist group, they will still need resources to survive.
The fact that extremists have managed to recruit and gain a foothold at Cape Delgado has many observers liken it to the way Boko Haram grew strong in northern Nigeria. Extremists are harassing residents, but they are also exploiting local unrest and offering an alternative route for unemployed youth who are frustrated by the absence of the central government.
You can scale
The Mozambican government has asked for international help to address the violence, saying its troops need special training. At the same time, human rights groups have accused the country’s security forces of being behind arbitrary detentions, torture and killings during their efforts to try to stop extremists.
– The government has been criticized for not acting enough. This type of rebellion on religious grounds is something completely new for Mozambique. It has no connection to the historical roots of Islam in the region, says Udelsmann Rodrigues.
– Unfortunately, I think the conflict will escalate even more. There is no turning back, the extremists will not lay down their arms now.
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