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

The Holy Month of Ramadhan has in the past been a month for most terror organizations to ramp up their activities and this month was not any different. The branches in Somalia, DRC, and Mozambique conducted attacks that were geared to adhere to tradition as well as a revenge mission announced by ISIS-Central.

The IS spokesperson, Abu Umar al-Muhajir, announced the “Revenge Battle for the Two Sheikhs” campaign on April 17 and called on supporters to conduct attacks to avenge the deaths of the late IS leader Abu Ibrahim al Qurayshi and late IS spokesperson Abu Hamza al Qurayshi. As the group observed the Holy Month of Ramadhan, the global terror organization propagated the notion that the group is united and conducting coordinated attacks across the various regions to avenge their fallen leaders.

INCIDENT REPORT

Mozambique

• 03^rd Apr- security forces and militants clashed near Chicuaia Velha, Nangade no casualties were reported but militants included a young boy.
• 04^th Apr- 1 person killed by militants in Nambedo area in Ntamba Administrative post, Nangade.
• 05^th Apr- at least 3 soldiers were killed and five others injured after insurgents attacked a military outpost in Mandimba village located near Nangade Town.
• 14^th Apr- insurgents kidnapped 10 civilians and beheaded a militia member in the Chibau area of Nangade district.
• 28^th Apr- Allied forces and Jihadists had a fierce gunfight in the Chai and Quiterajo areas of Catupa forest.

DRC

• 27^th Apr- 2 Christians were killed and 11 others kidnapped by ISCAP following an attack on the road linking Komanda and Mambasa in Ituri province.
• 25^th Apr- A Congolese Army patrol was ambushed by ISCAP militants with machine guns leading to the death and injury of several soldiers.
• 24^th Apr- A Congolese Army patrol was ambushed by ISCAP militants with machine guns leading to the death and injury of several soldiers.
• 20^th Apr- a Congolese army patrol was attacked by militants in Bamandi Village, and weapons and ammunition were seized.
• 20^th Apr- Christians were killed after they were attacked by militants with machine guns on the road linking Kotiva and Mamove in Beni. A motorbike was burned.
• 19^th Apr- ISCAP resumed ambushing on roads after they stopped transport on the road linking Kasindi and Beni where they attacked and burned several vehicles.
• 17^th Apr- ISCAP attacked a Petroleum truck and motorcycles in Baunga and Mangusu, Ituri.
• 14^th Apr- ISCAP attacked a joint patrol between the Congolese army and allied militia where two members of the militia were killed in Kombo village near Nobili in North Kivu Province.
• 13^th Apr- at least 33 civilians were killed in Mangusu, Shauri Moya villages, and the bridge over the Ituri river by ISCAP. Most of the victims were hostages whom the group had used as human shields in previous attacks.
• 12^th Apr- an IED was detonated on a Congolese military patrol killing and wounding several of them in the Masanzi area near the border between DRC and Uganda.
• 12^th Apr- there was a clash between the Military and ISCAP in Kandoyi Village, Mambasa Area, Ituri several casualties were reported.
• 11^TH Apr- 8 people were killed including a policeman after ISCAP attacked Christians in Nobili Town on the DRC-Uganda border in North Kivu Province.
• 11^th Apr- at least 20 Christians were killed in an ISCAP assault in Mangusu village located west of Komanda in Ituri.
• 10^th Apr- 14 farmers killed following an ISCAP attack in Ootmaber Village, Irumu
• 10^th Apr- ISCAP attacked Christians who fled near Kizumbura and Mohanga towns in Beni, North Kivu.
• 10^th Apr- 1 person was injured at least 3 motorbikes were set ablaze after militants attacked Komango village, Beni with machine guns.
• 10^th Apr- 10 Christians killed, homes razed after militants attacked Bakulu, Abamayai, Kitoto, and Dodwanzi villages in Ituri.
• 09^th Apr- a Christian village in Komanda village, Ituri was attacked at least 20 Christians were killed with machine guns, and their homes were razed to the ground.
• 07^th Apr- at least 6 people were killed after a bomb detonated in a bar that serves the military near Katindo military in Goma, North Kivu.
• 7^th Apr- militias loyal to the Congolese Army clashed with militants using machine guns, leading to the death of 6 and wounding of several others, in the village of Lubiriha, Beni.
• 06^th Apr- a motorist was killed with a machine gun and his motorcycle burned on the road linking Erengeti and Komanda in Ituri.
• 03^rd Apr- at least 21 people were killed and 2 others kidnapped by ISCAP in nighttime assaults in Masambo, North Kivu.
• 03^rd Apr- a Congolese military patrol was attacked by militants resulting in the death of one soldier and the seizing of weapons and ammunition in Mwenda village in Beni.
• 03^rd Apr- at least 12 Christians were killed and their homes burned in Masambo village in Beni.
• 02^nd Apr- 6 Christians were targeted with machine guns and killed in an attack in Idoho, Ituri

Somalia

• 04^th Apr- one policeman was killed and his weapon seized by ISS militants after they attacked a police camp in the Dinili area of Mogadishu.
• 06^th Apr- ISS attacked policemen in the Si Piano neighborhood, Mogadishu with a hand grenade. Three of them were injured in the attack.
• 06^th Apr- A Somali policeman was shot and killed by militants on the Mogadishu-Afgoye road in the Jers Bali area.
• 11^th Apr– a Somali police checkpoint in the Kah Sheikhal area, Mogadishu was targeted with a hand grenade, one policeman was injured.
• 20^th Apr- 1 policeman was killed and 4 others injured following an attack by ISS at the Afgoye intersection road. The militants hurled a hand grenade at a police security checkpoint.
• 21^st Apr- Islamic State Somalia detonated an IED on an SNA four-wheel-drive vehicle destroying it and injuring 2 soldiers. The attack occurred on the Mogadishu-Afgoye road in Mogadishu

ANALYSIS

The various branches of the Islamic State across the globe took advantage of the month of Ramadhan as a tool to propagate terror, especially among Christians who were also celebrating a holy season too. The additional revenge campaign launched by ISIS-Central added salt to injury as the groups scrambled to make an impression and groups in the region were no exception.

Mozambique

In Mozambique, the Attorney General of Mozambique, Beatriz Buchili, warned that there was an ever-growing risk of recruitment of inmates by terrorists in the country’s jails, due to overcrowding and poor prison control system. The already lacking facilities in the past few years have received a surge in terrorism-related prisoners and with the overcrowding and poor management which does not segregate according to age, sex, physical or mental condition, and degree of risk or danger. Such conditions have exposed vulnerable people to being radicalized and traveling to fight with the jihadists upon release from jail.

Tanzania has reaffirmed its commitment to stability in the region, and in Mozambique in particular, in the fight against terrorism. The assurances were given by Phaustine Kasike, Tanzania’s High Commissioner in Mozambique stating that this commitment is reflected in its contribution to SADC forces, and reaffirmed that Tanzania will support Mozambique in the fight until the problem is solved.

Intelligence has maintained that there is a growing threat of domestic/national terrorist financing from internal sources, stating that illicit activities such as poaching, drug trafficking, and kidnappings, among others, constitute the main sources of internal financing for ISCAP in Cabo Delgado.

Uganda

President Yoweri Museveni said that his nation is willing to send troops to Mozambique to help with the fight against ISCAP. Uganda is currently providing some logistical support to Mozambique to fight the insurgents but if need be, UPDF would be deployed. He however said that despite that he would only send the troops to Cabo Delgado upon the resolution of the conflicts already in East Africa, especially in Somalia and DR Congo.

Museveni has in the past echoed that the insurgencies in the countries in the Great Lakes region pose a huge threat and require a collective response from the member states.

DRC

DRC joined the EAC which prompted the bloc to give the militants an ultimatum to disarm and join in the political talks that Nairobi volunteered to mediate as well as the forming of a regional military force that will fight against the various armed groups.

Joint DRC-MONUSCO Intervention Brigade (FIB) CT operations against ISCAP in Irumu territory recaptured a key terrorist base. Mount Oyo is one of the largest and most strategic bases used by the militants to conduct attacks in Irumu.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Radical East Africans are among the young men whom IS may look to support with continued financing. Thus, the defeat of ISCAP in DRC is a regional burden that all members of the Great Lakes Region ought to carry seeing as intelligence has shown DRC to be the go-to training ground for militants from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Mozambique.
• The East Africa Community announced that they would be forming a regional military force that will fight against the various armed groups active in DRC. Such a force, if Successful would cut off the recruits supply for the various branches in the region at the same time ending the decades-long conflict in eastern Congo.
• ISCAP uses spies within the population to scout attack locations as well as surveil the movements of both Ugandan and Congolese troops and as such, the civilian cooperation which is at an all-time low partly due to the ongoing siege ought to be boosted if any CT OP in DRC will yield and sustainable results.
• The success of the CT efforts in Mozambique which has rallied the majority of its allies to finance the foreign troops’ intervention is creating an integrated avenue or mission that manages and coordinates the financial, military, and reconstruction efforts to ensure the sustainability of the gains made against ISCAP in Cabo Delgado.
• IS-Somalia has shown its presence in Mogadishu is more than has been reported and the attacks in April are evidence that the group is a major threat, especially against security forces. Mitigatory security measures ought to be put to ensure that the group doesn’t blow over like al Shabaab.