A recently released report by the United Nations (UN, has revealed that the presence of Rwandan and Southern African Development Community (SADC) SAMIM troops in northern Mozambique has reduced the number of Islamic State Mozambique (ISM) militants, but has not extinguished them entirely.
The report was published by the UN commission in charge of monitoring the sanctions imposed on Daesh and Al-Qaeda and referring to the second half of 2022, the permanence of the Islamic fundamentalist group threatens economic interests in the province of Cabo Delgado.
The presence of allied troops consisting of SADC and Rwandan troops has greatly changed the trajectory of the conflict and diminished the group’s capabilities to conduct attacks as compared to before the deployment of the troops. The report further highlighted that the numbers have greatly fallen leaving a couple of hundred fighters compared to the 3000-4000 counterinsurgency mission.
However, while the group appears to be on the verge of total defeat, it still poses a threat to the Cabo Delgado region seeing as while the multitude of fighters has either defected or been killed the remainder of the militants are significantly trained, have the geographical advantage and in recent weeks have been exhibiting stealth by attacking using much smaller and agile cells.
It is important to note that ISM has in the past exhibited a high capability for survival and adaptability and in the past month the group has been attempting to win the hearts of the residents as a means to win over territory by seemingly appealing and assuring the residents they were there to peacefully purchase supplies, a trend that is being observed across the province.
