In Summary
- Armed groups linked to the Islamic State in northern Mozambique have embarked on a new strategy to win over the local population.
- Attackers distributed food thus presenting to come from a group that cares for people’s well-being
- Increased attacks claimed by the Islamic State linked groups witnessed in the gas-rich Cabo Delgado province in Northern Mozambique.
Armed attacks orchestrated by militants linked to the Islamic State group continue to increase in Cabo Delgado province in Northern Mozambique. In one of the dramatic attack claimed by the armed group recently, the raid dubbed ‘hearts and minds’by insurgents was conducted in the strategic coastal town of Mocímboa da Praia with the group taking responsibility of the attack through it pro-media channels.
The coastal town is close to Mozambique’s natural gas production installations where several companies in gas exploration are located. Following increased insecurities from the armed insurgents and doubled by the fears of COVID-19 pandemic, the companies are now contemplating evacuating some of their personnel.
Reports indicate that the ISIS-inspired Ahlu-Sunnah Wal Jama’at (Al-Sunnah) attackers during this raid were met with little resistance, as there was only a handful of soldiers at the time of the invasion.
The armed insurgents reportedly burnt government property including buildings and military assets, banks and cars, but what was notable in this raid, the attackers did not seem to go on civilian killing spree as it was witnessed in other previous attacks. The insurgents claimed to have killed several members of the security forces, but local authorities haven’t released any official figures of casualties.
In change of tactic or strategy aimed at winning locals, the attackers distributed food and then left the village, with some local inhabitants cheering them on. By so doing the ISIS-linked Al-Sunnah intended to present itself as a group that cared for people’s well-being.
According to Mozambique expert Joseph Hanlon, Visiting Senior Fellow at the London School of Economics, the armed insurgents ostensibly have a new strategy aimed at winning over the local population while concurrently clearing out the remote areas surrounding the towns and villages through their attacks.
Mozambique government which in the past had refused to admit that the insurgent group was establishing foothold in the country is now seeking help to battle the escalating menace. For many years, the local inhabitants in this gas-rich province have had very little government support. The recent failed resettlement of people to make way for the exploitation of mineral resources including natural gas and rubies, has exacerbated discontent with the government of the day.
Thousands of Mozambicans have lost their livelihoods in farming and fishing. As a result some view the government , not the insurgents, as the enemy. Corruption is also rife and people resent the government for not redistributing what they see as their share of the region’s mineral and resource wealth and this discontent by the locals is the loophole that the extremist insurgents are likely to exploit to win locals besides reap substantial number of followers.
