Jihadist attacks in northern Mozambique decline, army says

Recent reports indicate that attacks by Islamist militants in the Cabo Delgado region of northern Mozambique are on the decline. But the death of the COO this week calls for strategic changes, local media report.

Commander Eugênio Ussene Mussa is said to have died of Covid-19, but the cause of death has not been officially given.

“President Filipe Nyusi thought that with Mussa in charge of this region, maybe they would win the battle,” Mozambique correspondent Charles Mwangiro told the Africa Calling podcast.

“But with his death now, things will change,” he adds.

Jihadists calling themselves al-Shabab have launched attacks in Cabo Delgado province since 2017, but violence escalated last year. At least 2,500 were killed and over half a million people were displaced during the three-year period.

Attacks in decline?

The government has touted its recent success, especially as it has faced at least 800 jihadist strikes in the past year alone.

“Insurgent activity remained low in Cabo Delgado last week, while actions by government forces and their allies appeared to be increasing,” according to the US ACLED database, which tracks violence in the region. They were talking about the first week of February.

As reports out of the area indicate fighting is on the wane, as militants start to run out of supplies, correspondent Mwangiro says news is only coming from the government, making it very difficult to report on the crisis. .

“We used to get reports from the insurgents because they had their own means of communication, such as social media platforms,” he says.

Mwangiro was reporting in Cabo Delgado in November and December, but said it was difficult to work there.

“They don’t want anyone there and they say it’s a danger zone,” he adds, telling stories of journalists who have been missing, tortured and killed in the area.

Outside help

The extremists call themselves al-Shabab, but they are not part of the group carrying out guerrilla attacks in Somalia.

“We don’t know what al-Shabab is,” Mwangiro said. “The government said it was a new group. Some people say that local people are involved, but no one knows who is fighting whom in Cabo Delgado, ”he says.

The multibillion-euro exploration for liquid natural gas planned off the Afungi Peninsula, near the Shabab-controlled area, is also part of the equation. Workers at French oil major Total were evacuated in December when fighting broke out near their facility.

Cabo Delgado’s forays have taken place around a multibillion-dollar liquid natural gas (LNG) exploration project off the Afungi Peninsula, sparking concern among project developers.

However, Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne said this week their plans are still on schedule to start production in 2024. He said after the jihadists traveled within 10 kilometers of the site, Mozambican officials have pledged to provide protection within a 25 km radius.

Mozambique has asked the European Union to help it train soldiers to fight jihadists, and Portugal said in December it would intervene. But Mozambique did not want to ask for direct help to contain the violence.

Although the Southern African Development Community (SADC), a regional body, was due to hold a summit in mid-January on the current crisis in Mozambique, it has been permanently postponed, according to the Luza news agency.

“The government said it could control the situation in Cabo Delgado, but that it would likely affect other countries in the region, such as Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi as well,” Mwangiro says.

“This is why regional leaders have tried to contribute to the insurgency in the region,” he adds.