Bloody Rich: Mozambique Sees Resurgence of Militant Attacks As It Tries To Develop Its Resources 

Fifty years after Mozambique gained independence from Portugal, the southeast African country is struggling to contain surging jihadist violence in its northern coastal Cabo Delgado province. 

In August, Islamic State-affiliated militants known as al-Shabaab attacked eight districts in Cabo Delgado. Seeking to install their harsh version of Sharia law and seize the region’s natural gas reserves and ruby mines, the militants have attacked villages, fought Mozambican troops, and set up roadblocks on back roads to extort resources from travelers. Christian drivers stopped at these roadblocks must pay tolls to pass or face capture. 

The United States-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) warned that the Islamic State fighters were also beheading Christians and burning down churches and schools, calling the tragic situation a “silent genocide.” 

“What we see in Africa today is a kind of silent genocide or silent, brutal, savage war that is occurring in the shadows and all too often ignored by the international community,” Alberto Miguel Fernandez of MEMRI told Fox News. “That jihadist groups are in a position to take over not one, not two, but several countries in Africa – take over the whole country or most of several countries – is dangerous.” 

Mozambique has been battling the Islamist insurgents in Cabo Delgado since 2017, struggling to contain the violence, while relying on support from troops sent by Rwanda, South Africa, and other regional partners. 

In 2020, the insurgents initiated a wave of attacks in which they beheaded dozens of people, including children.  

Now, observers say there has been a resurgence of attacks and child kidnappings this year, which have been overshadowed by Mozambique’s deadly and long-running post-election protests, recent cyclones, and US cuts to foreign aid.  

More than 95,000 people have been displaced due to the violence, the United Nations said. UN officials also warned that the militants were preventing vital humanitarian aid for those who remain. More than 6,000 people have died in the region since 2017. Around a third were civilians. 

The political dominance of the Liberation Front of Mozambique (FRELIMO), which fought for independence and has run the country since 1975, is one reason why the jihadist problem as well as other issues – poor infrastructure, scant civil institutions, ethnic tensions, extreme inequality and endemic poverty despite tremendous natural resources – persist in the country, argued the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs. 

“The persistence of protests and the country’s economic paralysis underscore a revolt that extends beyond electoral disputes,” it wrote. “The opposition has evolved into a broader challenge against a one-party system tainted by repeated corruption scandals in recent years, whose promises of development have left behind a particularly vulnerable population.” 

When President Daniel Chapo won office last year, defeating Venâncio Mondlane of the Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique, a party that split off from FRELIMO, for example, voters eager for change took to the streets to protest for months, accusing Chapo of fraud. The government responded with a harsh crackdown, resulting in more than 300 deaths in the demonstrations. 

In July, the government charged Mondlane with incitement to terrorism. 

Among the government’s failings over the years is the failure to bring together different parties to figure out how to address the root causes of the jihadism in Cabo Delgado, noted the Center for Strategic Studies. Compensating those who have suffered violence, offering amnesty to those who have run afoul of government officials for expressing their dissident political opinions, and funding more youth initiatives would help defuse the instability in the region, Center researchers argued.  

Chapo hopes money can help. He recently announced a $40 million, World Bank-supported fund to finance small and medium businesses, reported Al Jazeera. More importantly, Qatar’s Al Mansour Holding recently signed a $20 billion deal to fund energy and agriculture projects, Reuters wrote. 

But the insurgents are likely not to be defeated that easily, say analysts. As of June, insurgents have kidnapped more than 120 children from the Cabo Delgado province, to ensure their mission goes on: Witnesses told the Associated Press that children abducted from towns and villages have been used as fighters in subsequent attacks.  

“When al-Shabab fighters enter or attack certain areas, they tend to abduct children,” Augusta Iaquite, coordinator at the Association of Women in Legal Careers in Cabo Delgado, told Human Rights Watch. “They take them to train them and later turn them into their own fighters.”