Monthly Counter-Terrorism Intelligence Brief for East and Central Africa (Somalia, Mozambique, DR-Congo, Tanzania, Uganda): Tracking Islamic State Terrorists In August 2022

INCIDENT REPORT

MOZAMBIQUE

• 30^TH Aug– at least two people were beheaded in the Mbonge area of the Ancuabe district.
• 27^th Aug– Islamic State Mozambique (ISM) beheaded a Christian during an assault in Namuembe in Nangade.
• 26^th Aug– militants attacked and set ablaze several houses in multiple villages located near Nangade town.
• 24^th Aug– ISM attacked a Mozambican military barracks in Mandela village, Muidumbe district. Following the attack, the soldiers were forced to flee and seek refuge.
• 24^th Aug- terrorists attacked Minhanha Village in Meluco district an attack that was later claimed by IS and credited to ISM.
• 19^TH Aug- an army barracks was set on fire, and weapons were seized after militants attack the base located in Litingina, Nangade district.
• 18^th Aug- ISM militants attacked the remote village of Nhica do Rovuma, Palma district. The attack occurred near an airstrip.
• 10^th Aug- ISM attacked and set fire to houses in a Christian village of Mandela in Muidumbe district.
• 8^th Aug- residents of Litandacua village were attacked by suspected jihadists.
• 7^th Aug- several soldiers were injured and weapons were seized after militants attacked an army barracks in Moambi Jo in the Nangade district.
• 04^th Aug- a soldier was injured, barracked razed to the ground, and weapons seized on Namitoko village in Meluco district.
• 04^th Aug- at least 5 houses burned, and Christians were forced to flee from their homes in Metobe village in Mocimboa da Praia.
• 01^st Aug- three people were killed and their motorcycles torched after they were ambushed in the Tandako area in Macomia district.
• 01^st Aug- 9 Christians were brutally killed on the N1 road between Nova Zambezia and Nova Vida in the Macomia district. Of the victims, 2 were beheaded and the rest were killed with automatic weapons.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

• 30^th Aug– Residents continue to flee the continued assaults by ISCAP in Biakato in the Mambasa region in Ituri province.
• 27th Aug– ISCAP attacked army barracks in Makuba in the Beni region located on the strategic Beni-Kasindi-Butembo road.
• 27^th Aug– 4 people were killed following an attack on an army barrack in Kabasiwa in the Beni region.
• 26^th Aug– a policeman was killed in a nighttime assault by ISCAP on the Kasindi-Beni-Butembo road. The attack occurred in Magria village located in the Lubero area.
• 24^th Aug– 7 Christians were killed and their property was looted by ISCAP in Banyangala village in the Rwenzori sector.
• 24^th Aug– suspected ISCAP elements kidnap UN-MASS employees on RN2 near Kubumba, Nyiragongo territory in North Kivu. The kidnapped aid workers were 2 Congolese nationals and a Zimbabwean.
• 23^rd Aug– 4 people were killed by nighttime ISCAP attacks in Banyangala village in the Rwenzori sector.
• 22^nd Aug– ISCAP attacked a Congolese Army camp in Masambo village located approximately 17km from Kasindi in Beni.
• 19^th Aug– ISCAP attacked and razed to the ground a police station in Oicha Beni where the militants freed an unknown number of prisoners being held there.
• 18^th Aug– 2 people were killed, and a truck and two houses burned after militants attacked Mbenzu Village in the Mambasa area in Ituri.
• 17^th Aug– at least 8 people were killed in Lolwa village and other villages located along the Mambasa-Komanda road in Ituri province.
• 13^th Aug– ISCAP militants burned houses along the Mombasa-Kumanda Road/M4 in the Christian village of Lumalisa, Ituri.
• 12^th Aug– a targeted assassination on Police Patrol killed Butembo Deputy Police Chief and five police officers in Kangote Neighbourhood, located north of Butembo in North Kivu Province.
• 12^th Aug– a Congolese military barracks was attacked with automatic weapons. The terrorists seized weapons from the base and burned several houses in the Mafugo village in the Bulambo region in Beni.
• 10^th Aug– ISCAP conducted a prison break where they broke out hundreds of prisoners from Kakwangura Central prison in Butembo town in North Kivu.
• 9^th Aug– at least 16 Christians were beheaded by ISCAP along the RN4 road near Idohu in Ituri
• 6^th Aug– jihadists burned homes during an assault on the Christian village of Bandiboli in Ituri.
• 6^TH Aug– ISCAP terrorists killed a soldier during an ambush on the RN2 between Bandiboli and Kandwe, Ituri Province.

SOMALIA

• 30^th Aug– Islamic State Somalia exploded an IED under a vehicle of a Somali government official in the Karan District of Mogadishu Somalia, killing him.

DRC

In DRC ISCAP militants conducted a prison break in Kakwangura Central Prison in the town where at least 800 prisoners were set free and two officers killed. The attack was claimed by ISIS-Central official channels as the group continues to gain publicity. In a video, following the prison break at Kakwangura in Butembo, the group shows footage that claims to show some prisoners converting and joining the jihadists.

In August the group recorded an increase in attacks on military barracks and others security agencies. The attacks have been used by the jihadists to replenish their weapons and ammunition that are used to conduct further attacks. The attacks on the military barracks are believed to be in preparation for the upcoming assaults as the EAC starts its deployment. The same is true for the prison break and active recruitment drives.

The seven-member states of the East African Community (EAC) agreed to deploy a regional force to DRC. On 15 August, a Burundian contingent was the first to enter the DRC under EAC auspices. While there is no firm timetable for the force’s full deployment each contributor is expected to pursue a distinct mission in different regions marred by violence. Additionally, the ongoing operation by the Ugandan troops has recorded wins. Intelligence has since revealed that the joint forces have dislodged the militants from some of their most strategic camps in Yuwa, Tondoli, Lusulubi, and Belu.

Kenya deployed a second Quick Response Force (QRF) contingent of peacekeepers to MONUSCO consisting of over 200 troops. The troops were deployed despite the ongoing protest and riots by civilians who are calling for the withdrawal of the UN peacekeepers for failing to accomplish their mandate. The riots have been taking place with accusations that while there is a significant presence of troops in the region, the security situation in North Kivu and Ituri provinces has not improved and if anything, the attacks on the civilian populace have increased especially with the morphing of ADF into ISCAP.

MOZAMBIQUE

In Mozambique, a significant number of attacks were targeted at security forces which the group has been avoiding for the past couple of months. This eagerness to directly confront security forces, following an intense period of attacks on civilian targets, indicates a need to resupply weapons and munitions.

ISM also released a video Titled “Islamic State Fighters Send a Message to the Government and Army of Mozambique and their Christian Subjects”. The video was short and with a simple message in Arabic addressed to President Filipe Nyusi and his government that the fight in Mozambique would continue as part of ISIS’ global struggle to establish an Islamic state.

Towards the end of August, the group appears to be resuming their push south as attacks appeared to have resumed in the Ancuabe district. In the past couple of weeks, the group has been venturing further south a trend that has put residents on high alert, especially towards Pemba. However, the group has used attacks further south as cover for the leadership and commanders’ movements. Intelligence indicates that there is a possibility that the commanders are migrating and moving into villages in Muidimbe close to River Messalo.

SADC again extended its mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) which has been actively fighting Islamic State insurgents in the northern province of Cabo Delgado. The mandate was extended following the 42nd ordinary summit of heads of state and government of SADC, held in Kinshasa, DRC. The extension is especially welcome seeing as, despite the presence of the allied forces, insecurity persists; the militants operate in relatively autonomous cells, and their self-reliance contributes to the difficulty the government has had in tracking down and identifying their support networks.

Somalia

In Somalia, ISS released a 25-minute video in Amharic, subtitled into Arabic, titled “On the Path of the Conquerors,” seeking to recruit Ethiopian Muslims to join ISIS in Somalia. The video is believed to be part of the recent ISIS efforts to recruit non-Arab populations in Muslim countries. The video was preceded by a June video in the Hausa language calling for recruits to join the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and another in June from Iraq in Kurdish.