Weekly Counter-Terrorism Intelligence Brief for East and Central Africa (Somalia, Mozambique, DR-Congo): Tracking Islamic State Terrorists in Period of 01st June- 10th June 2021

The Islamic State provinces in East Africa continue to launch attacks in Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) while the group in Somalia remains dormant without attacks either in the north or Mogadishu.

In DRC, the group has been facing resistance from the military, UN peacekeepers as well as rebel groups active in North Kivu and Ituri Provinces. The past week, ISCAP has conducted attacks against the Mayi-Mayi rebel group and civilians in attacks that have left dozens dead, hospitals burnt, and looted.

In Mozambique, CT operations by the military continue to push out and thwart attacks by the group in Cabo Delgado (CD) and despite the group seemingly having a lull, it is evident that it still poses a major threat.

ISCAP Attacks in Mozambique and DRC (01^st June- 10^th June 2021)

Mozambique

• 01^st June- clashes between ISCAP and Mozambican troops as the FADM attacks militants’ camps near Messalo River near Quiterajo in Macomia district.
• 04^th June- ISCAP’s attack near Namacande, Muidumbe district was repulsed by FADM choppers

DRC

• 01^st June- Congolese military base was attacked at Kokola, Beni was attacked by ISCAP rifles, and ammo was seized.
• 04^th June- 2 people were killed in an attack In Ntoma village in the Rwenzori sector.
• 06^th June- 2 civilians were killed by ISCAP near Samboko-Tsanitsani, Beni
• 06^th June- at least 13 people were killed in various attacks by ISCAP in the outskirts of Oicha, Beni.
•  07^th June- at least 30 people killed several injured, general hospital looted and razed to the ground in ISCAP attack in Boga, Ituri leaving the area deserted.
• 07^th June- 3 soldiers were killed and several others injured following the attack in Buhimba, Beni after which weapons and ammo were seized.
• 07^th June- ISCAP released photos of the execution of a captured Congolese soldier. The soldier was executed by a child executioner.
• 07^th June- 8 farmers killed with crude weapons (axes, sticks, knives, Machetes) near Mutuweyi-Mayamoto, Beni
• 08^th June- at least 8 Mayi-Mayi rebels injured, camps set on fire after ISCAP attacked the rebels in Lisasa and Kasanze in Buliki Groupement in Beni

ANALYSIS and CONCLUSION

DRC

In DRC, the use of child soldiers has been repeatedly reported but last week the first-ever case of a child executioner was reported after the group circulated photos of an execution of a capture Congolese soldier. This is in line with the recently released photos of a significant number of children during the celebrations of Eid ul Fitr in Beni. The group continues to launch its violent campaign against civilians in North Kivu and Ituri despite the presence of increased military presence. The group appears to be amercing weapons and ammunition evidenced by repeated attacks on the military as evidenced by the growing number of attacks in military bases and personnel especially in the Rwenzori sector in Beni.

Politicians voted to extend martial law in the restive east of the country for 15 days, a month after they replaced civilian authorities with military administrations in North Kivu and Ituri provinces. According to military intelligence in North Kivu, since the establishment of the siege in May; at least 73 ISCAP employees have been arrested, 5 vehicles and 7 motorcycles seized and 37 ISCAP rebels neutralized. The term ISCAP employee has been used by the military to refer to members of either the public or rebel groups that are paid the terror organization to conduct business, abuses, or offer intelligence. Of those captured 14 were foreigners from Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Eritrea, and Ethiopia which confirmed the group having large numbers of foreigner fighters a fact that should trigger the revision of CT measures to include stringent border control to stop the flow of foreign recruits.

MOZAMBIQUE

The lack of cooperation between Mozambique and Tanzania will dampen the efforts by the former in adequately addressing ISCAP seeing as the latter views the insurgency as a domestic problem only to be resolved by Mozambique. The fact that a substantial number of ISCAP are Tanzanian and attacks in Mtwara notwithstanding, Tanzania remains reluctant to cooperate in joint measures like increased border control to curb the movement of recruits into Mozambique. The lack of geopolitical cooperation between the two countries will continue to pose a major threat to both seeing as intelligence indicates that Tanzania is very jihadi-fertile and its lacks of border control with Mozambique facilitates the travel of Jihadists from across the larger East Africa region to join and train with ISCAP in CD.

The military in Mozambique continues to come under fire after intelligence revealed that the troops have been robbing and looting homes, banks, and private businesses in towns that have been deserted by residents after ISCAP attacks. This is not the first time that FADM has been criticized for operating outside the bounds of the law which in turn continues to fuel the distrust of the institution in a prickly time when the populace requires the troops to set up. The mistrust between the military and population has recurrently been attributed as a leading cause in the slow headway made in dealing with the insurgency in Cabo Delgado as the military and ISCAP are considered to some extent by residents as two sides of a coin.