On June 4th, Islamic State claimed the first-ever attack in Mozambique but branded the attack under the IS-Central Africa Province previously only linked to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In the statement, ISIS claimed that soldiers of the Caliphate repulsed a Crusader, Mozambican Army attack in Metubi village, in the Mocimboa area.
While this is the first attack claimed by ISIS in Mozambique, it is not the first from the Larger Great Lakes Region of Africa seeing as ISIS appears to have a presence in DRC. Following the fall of ISIS-Central in Iraq and Syria, the terror organization has been seeking to establish itself as a global threat by claiming attacks of affiliates in Africa and Asia. Most recently, the group that has gained recognition from ISIS is Ansar al-Sunnah a jihadist movement established in the restive northern province of Cabo Delgado.
Origins And Background
Ansar al-Sunnah locally identified as al-Shabaab (despite having no affiliations to Somalia’s terror group) gained traction in 2017 when there was a spate of violent attacks by the militants where at least 200 people were killed. The terror group is believed to have started as a religious organization with strong ties to radical Kenyan Sheikh Aboud Rogo whose teaching were imported by Mozambican expats.
Significantly, Mozambique which has a Muslim minority population has historically imported its clerics from neighboring Tanzania and as such has been susceptible to radical elements. Especially, between 2015-2017 Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado Province received a large number of Radical Muslim refugees from Tanzania that were fleeing a crackdown from the government.
In October 2018, a court in Mozambique started the trial of over 180 people with terrorism charges and belonging to the Ansar al-Sunnah group. Of the accused 50 were Tanzanian with the rest drawing from Uganda, DRC, Somalia, Burundi, and Mozambique. Intelligence further revealed that over 100 Tanzanians were arrested en route to Mozambique to join training camps for the terror group in Mozambique.
Ansar al-Sunnah has been known to communicate in Swahili which is a clear indicator that most of its members are foreigners from neighboring East African nations who were unable to travel to Somali because of security especially in Kenya and as such they end up traveling to Mozambique.
Recruitments And Financial Network
Primarily, Ansar al-Sunnah recruits in mosques in northern Mozambique targeting the poor, marginalized and unemployed youth who are given small stipends to influence friends and family to join the movement. Like most radical terror groups, they seek to establish a society governed by strict sharia laws and shunning western education and values practiced by the majority of the population.
Recent intelligence indicates that while the affiliation to ISIS is being reaffirmed, Ansar al-Sunnah has been receiving fighters and weapons from ADF rebels in Uganda and DRC who were recognized as the official Central Africa Wilayah of ISIS.
A huge multitude of its fighters and sympathizers are terrorist refugees from Tanzania that have failed to join al Shabaab in Somalia or establish themselves in the country. Other East African countries also offer recruits that are willing to travel to Mozambique.
Ansar al-Sunnah gets its finances from:
- Trafficking of illegal timber, rubies and other natural resources available in the rich Cabo Delgado province.
- Heroin shipping through the port to Europe, Asia, and South Africa
- Ivory and contraband trading and smuggling from other African nations, Chinese and Vietnamese smugglers.
- Sympathizers and Jihadists from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, DRC, and other Great Lakes Nations.
- International contributions from recruits and members who sell their property to finance the holy war.
Threat Matrix
The presence and continuous proliferation of ISIS-affiliated groups in Africa is posing a great threat to Africa at large as it is gradually encouraging violence and the emergence of radical and violent jihadi offshoots. Ansar al-Sunnah is quite strategically placed between three African regions that are quite at risk of war; Great Lakes, South, and East African regions.
Central Africa has seen its share of wars majorly ethnic-based as well as political rebellions however, the emergence of Jihadi groups could quite easily tip the scales to bring forth a larger more far-reaching war. As the group emerges intelligence indicates that it has had recruits from as far as South Africa which could increase the chances of imported terrorism to the region.
Moreover, as ISIS-central fell, there were all indications that fighters were fleeing the Middle East and finding Haven in Africa. Mozambique’s proximity to Asia, access to natural resources as well as international smuggling and shipping offers certain advantages that could be exploited to strengthen the terror organization.
The potential of the group to expand financially mainly because of access to the resources in its resource-rich headquarters especially natural gases makes the group a major threat. In terms of manpower it is quite evident that Ansar al-Sunnah has a wide pool of recruits from local youths, radical refuges as well as ADF rebels and as such it can consolidate a large IS-CAP that could potentially wreak havoc in the larger Great Lakes Region.
Similarly, the claim and validation by ISIS will likely trigger the trooping of recruits who didn’t find ways to make it to Somalia. Radicals in East Africa have found it quite difficult to access Somalia to either join Islamic State Somalia or al Shabaab die to the stringent homeland and border security in Kenya which decapitated the efforts by al Shabaab to recruit within the region. However, the porosity of the border between Tanzania and Mozambique offers the opportunity for potential recruits to travel and join Ansar al-Sunnah opening the region to great threats.
