While Africa’s counter-terrorism assets are still focusing on deadly insurgencies perpetrated by Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab, in southern Africa a slow-growing insurgency in Northern Mozambique continues to gain momentum.
Presently, the insurgency is concentrated in Cabo Delgado Province, with Mocimboa da Praia, Palma, Montepuez, and Macomia districts being the most affected. Like with other Islamist insurgents in the continent, the militants are interested in forming an Islamic state.
Militant threat is slowly gaining tract in northern Mozambique. The militants operating in these name areas have already claimed a number of successful attacks against armed forces and civilians.
The militant group majorly comprised of foreign fighters from Tanzania, Somalia and Kenya is estimated to have between 100 and 300 members. The growing insurgency is still at its infancy, but security experts warn that northern Mozambique could turn out be the next jihadist destination in the coming years.
Security pundits and researchers are still investigating the origin story of the dominant extremist group, Ansar al-Sunna, and factors that contribute to the growing insurgency in Northern Mozambique. Ansar al-Sunna, commonly referred to as the Al-Shabaab by the locals, is believed to have begun when followers of Kenyan radical Cleric, Aboud Rogo, moved to the islands and began to preach their radical teachings in 2013/2014.
Another theory traces the origins of Ansar al-Sunna as an off-shoot of the Islamic Council of Mozambique (ICM), with its roots to the early 2000s. ICM created a chapter in Cabo Delgado known as Ansaru Sunna, built mosques and performed other social goods in the area. The group was against a secular state and hoped to create and Islamic State in the future. The group slowly become more radicalised and transformed to Ansar al-Sunna.
By October 2017, Ansar al-Sunna had become a menace in Cabo Delgado province. The group’s members frequently clashed with security forces, some of their members were arrested. The group targets both the Mozambique security forces and the community at large.
The militant group has been reported to have perpetrated attacks to the community in the most brutal ways, using machetes and knives. In some cases, the group has decapitated community members, especially community elders, a key signature commonly perpetuated by Islamic State terrorist group (ISIS). The militant group has conducted a number of raids, burning several houses down to continue to spread fear among the villagers. This has resulted to a number of citizens in northern Mozambique fleeing due the brazen attacks. At least 200 people have been killed in 49 reported incidents. These are conservative estimates due to the lack of information and access to some of the villages in Cabo Delgado province.
The Mozambique government and country’s security agencies have been very slow in combating the shadowy insurgency in Cabo Delgado province. The government for the longest has been in denial that there was no Islamic insurgency in the northern parts of the country.
However, as the attacks have become more brutal, frequent and mostly targeted on security forces, the government could not ignore the facts, especially when footages of mutilated bodies began circulating and spread on pro-jihadists social media.
Two years after militants belonging to Ansar al-Sunna conducted and claimed their first attack, information about the insurgency is limited. This is mostly due to the fact that the group has no clear objectives or written manifesto as other insurgent groups in the continent such as Boko Haram and Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Shabaab.
The broader ambitions to creating an Islamic state and brutal attacks on unsuspecting villagers has been their rise to lime-light in Cabo Delgado Province. Like other African countries that have fought insurgencies, the Mozambican government has resulted in using force to combat the problem so far with limited success.
The Mozambican government, with the support of the international community, should be addressing the socio-economic problems as a way to combat the insurgency before it gains momentum and establishing foothold to other areas of the country and possibly thwart it from becoming as dangerous of an insurgent group as Boko Haram laying siege in a number of West Africa countries and Al-Shabaab in Somalia and East Africa.
