NOTABLES:
- Attacks in Mozambique reduce as the FDS tighten the noose
- Insight is given into the activities of ISCAP in the camps in Mozambique following the recollections of released hostages.
- ISCAP having resources especially food and shelter shortage as a result of increases CT operations and lack of looting attacks in the districts
- ISCAP appears to have fortified Mocimboa da Praia (MDP) and use it as a logistical area for planning and resting as the spring attacks across Cabo Delgado.
- DRC and Kenya sign defense and Counterterrorism agreements that will aid in the fight against ISCAP in the east.
- First reports of ISCAP attacks having men, women and children reported.
- Protests to increase security both in Beni and Irumu territories continues
- MUNOSCO announces an increase in involvement amid protest.
ISCAP Attacks in Mozambique and DRC (16th April – 24th April 2021)
DRC
- 17/04- three people were killed with some being beheaded in Mamove, Beni
- 23/04- At least 11 people were killed and over 20 kidnapped by ISCAP in Avenyi-Kukutama village in Beni.
- 23/04- 8 people killed by ISCAP in Erengeti area
- 24/04- 4 people were killed in Bangi Village, houses were also burned and looted in the area located in the Erengeti grouping.
- 24/04- 1 soldier was killed and several others injured in the ISCAP attack near Oicha, Beni. Weapons and ammo were seized from the military.
- 24/04- 12 people were killed by ISCAP in Maleki village, Beni where they were either shot or hacked with machetes.
MOZAMBIQUE
- 15/04- ISCAP militants attacked Mozambican troops in Roma near MDP where they attacked the soldiers with RPGs and machine guns. No fatalities were reported on either side.
- 16/04- ISCAP attacked Nanili village near Mueda in Macomia district, they had RPGs and machine guns and looted for food cementing intelligence that the group is running low on supplies.
- 16/04- 1 soldier was injured in Xitaxi, Muidumbe in an attack that saw the terrorists make away with military equipment and a sizable loot of food.
- 19/04- 4 civilians were killed and houses were burned following an attack by ISCAP in Quionga, Palma after which the terrorists fled towards the Tanzanian border.
ANALYSIS AND INSIGHTS
In the Holy month of Ramadhan, threats posed by the Islamic State factions remain high and can be felt with intelligence indicating that the groups are growing and planning major attacks before the end of the month. Though attacks have slightly reduced in the past seven days as compared to the past weeks of April; the slight decline in attacks should not warrant laxity by CT assets in any of the AOR but should be an opportunity to seal any security loophole subsequently to denying the blood-thirsty terrorists an opportunity to strike the civilian populace.
Typically, especially in Africa ISIS affiliates tend to make huge splashes that make international headlines as a way to commemorate the Holy month and as such CT apparatus in DRC, Mozambique, and Somalia ought to remain on high alert and explore all the COIN strategies at their disposal including allies as the month also doubles as the group’s largest recruitment drive. While in both countries the groups appear to be taking different strategies, it cannot be taken lightly or disarray between the two rather than tactics that are geared to inflict maximum damage on the civilian and military populations of the three countries.
In Mozambique, a group of girls and young women believed to have been in the custody of ISCAP were released and have since narrated the horror stories from the militants’ camps. The horrific stories depict a group that takes up the caliphate model with boys and men receiving intense military training and the girls and women taking up the hospitality roles. The hostages revealed the atrocities that especially the girls as young as 12 years old have to face as they are taken as brides and prizes to soldiers that go out to fight and loot for supplies. They also confirmed the use of child soldiers which goes further to reiterate the degree of human rights violations and the need for haste in addressing the crisis from all fronts not just throwing military solutions at the now designated ISCAP-Mozambique.
Additionally, all eyes are on the southern Africa bloc as they discuss the deployment of troops to Cabo Delgado including but not limited to the bloc’s standby force. Mozambique also appears to tightening the noose against the militants and achieving small successes that cannot be ignored as they can be credited to the significant lull in attacks. However, despite the efforts, intelligence indicates that residents of Pemba which has not been attacked are on high alert as there is an imminent threat of an attack soon. An attack in Pemba would be a huge setback to a region that is still recovering from the attack in Palma that left dozens dead and millions of dollars in property and cash destroyed. The week’s activities also revealed that the group has fortified MDP and have been using the district as a logistical center from where attacks are planning, drills are done and orchestrated from and likely house a huge portion of the leadership brass.
In Somalia, political disarray continues to breed fertile conditions for the growth and expansion of ISS with chatter indicating that recently dormant terror cells in Mogadishu are back in play. In April, they already conducted an attack against police killing and injuring several police officers in the process. Al Shabaab, which is affiliated with Al Qaeda and the more active of the terror organizations active in Somalia has threatened a bloody Ramadhan which would give their ISIS counterparts to conduct activities as both groups have historically had a bitter rivalry.
On the had in DRC, the group continues its bloody campaign attacking the military and the civilians indiscriminately with reports from residents indicating that the ISCAP terrorists have been tagging along with their families; women, and children in the attacks which increases the threat as it is unclear if they are being used as human shields. This comes as residents of Beni and Ituri protested the growing insecurity that has been either directly or indirectly caused by ISCAP. The riots have been aimed at pressuring the government to take the insurgency seriously, curate strategies and operations befitting a jihadist group instead of using the same recurring MO that is employed for the numerous rebel group active in eastern DRC.
Kenya and DRC signed a deal that will employ cooperation on counter-terrorism, weapon smuggling, regularized immigration, customs control, and cybersecurity. Intelligence has indicated that a substantial number of ISCAP come from the larger East Africa region especially Kenya and Uganda and as such immigration cooperation is crucial to ensure that the group doesn’t expand further. The fact that Swahili is the language spoken in eastern DRC where ISCAP has a presence; makes the recruitment of jihadists easier. In the past, intelligence revealed that ISCAP’s financial network operated out of Kenya, as well as a money courier believed to be traveling from Kenya, was arrested in Kasindi before disappearing. Thus, the agreement will be a stepping stone in decapitating the financial network that has been funding the insurgency in North Kivu and Ituri provinces.
It is crucial that troops and COIN actors not relent in their fight against the affiliates in DRC Somalia, and Mozambique as the group continues to amerce territory and fighters so will it amerce sympathizers who will fund and protect the group’s interests and activities. The sophistication of their attacks and weaponry ought not to be ignored as the group has been receiving training and other forms of support from its parent group in the Middle East.
