The SADC mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) has announced the death of a Tanzanian soldier who was killed in an IS-MOZ attack in Nangade district in Cabo Delgado on 22nd June this year.
The death comes as SAMIM continues to be faced with challenges as the terror group appears to be adapting quicker and more effectively than the forces can curate strategies to stop the continued attacks on the populace. Intelligence on the ground in Cabo Delgado continues to reveal the disarray and lack of cooperation between the troops, especially between the Tanzanians, Rwandans, and the rest of the troops.
The death of the soldiers comes as the porosity of the border between Tanzania and Mozambique continues to be a weak link in the CT operations. The border has been continuously used by the militants to receive reinforcements from the rest of the region. Until recently, IS-MOZ was part of ISCAP alongside the branch in DR Congo and had been receiving fighters recruited and trained in Beni who entered Cabo Delgado mostly through Mtwara.
The group will continue to have an upper hand until the counterinsurgency forces in CD unite and make unified efforts with full transparency. Otherwise, the efforts of individual forces will be redundant and offer the militancy and opportunity to both attack new areas as well as previously liberated regions.
IS-MOZ continues to have an elusive nature that has allowed the group to morph and adapt anytime there is a minor effort to counter it. Recent intelligence indicates that there is a direct line of communication with ISIS-Central offering guidance and with other branches in the Middle East praising and urging ‘believers’ to travel to Mozambique. Hence, the porous Tanzanian border will continue to be a challenge and disadvantage as intel indicates that fighters from DR Congo and Kenya are expected to cross and offer reinforcements.
