After Tensions in Mozambique, US and Portugal Sent Support

Maputo - Portugal will send troops to its former colony, Mozambique, following a jihadist attack linked to the Islamic State (IS) in Palma, North Mozambique, said Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva.

"A team of about 60 Portuguese soldiers is getting ready ... they will be stationed in Mozambique in the coming weeks," said Santos Silva in an interview with state TV channel RTP, Monday evening (29/03). "These soldiers will support the Mozambican soldiers in training special forces."

In a drastic increase in the insurgency of the militant group al-Shabab linked to IS, last Wednesday (24/03), militias attacked the town in Cabo Delgado Province. The Mozambique government says dozens of people have died as a result of the attack. Palma has been the target of the al-Shabab uprising since 2017.

On Monday (29/03), Palma looked almost empty. Islamic State (IS) claims that its supporters have taken control of the city.

The US conveyed its support to the government

Responding to tensions in Palma, Mozambique, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said it remains committed to working with the Mozambican government, "to fight terrorism and violent extremism, and to defeat IS."

The United Nations condemned the attacks in Palma and said it was coordinating closely with local authorities to provide assistance to those affected by violence. "We are very concerned about the situation that is still developing in Palma were armed attacks that began on March 24 have reportedly killed dozens of people," said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

After the militia attacks launched last week, the City of Palma became gradually deserted. Its inhabitants fled by road, boat, or on foot. Dozens of people are reportedly still missing.

The attack was the largest and closest to a multibillion-dollar liquefied natural gas project being developed by French firm Total and other energy giants.

ISIS Claims an Attack

Source Picture www.albawaba.com

"Caliphate forces captured the strategic city of Palma," said Islamic State (IS) in a statement posted on its Telegram channel. The group claims its attacks were aimed at the military and government, killing dozens of soldiers and "members of a Crusader state," - a term used to refer to Western citizens. Some of the victims were foreign workers.

The city of 75,000 people in Cabo Delgado province is all vacant, civil society activist Adriano Nuvunga told AFP news agency. "The violence has stopped, but it is believed some militias have withdrawn and some are still in hiding," he added.

Witnesses said militias had sneaked into the city ahead of the attack. "The attackers arrived a few days earlier and hid in the homes of the locals they paid for," said a resident of Palma, speaking from Mueda, where he is now taking shelter. "The attack started along the main road to Palma," he said further.

The Residents Fled

Many survivors say they have been walking for days through the forest seeking shelter in Mueda, 180 kilometers to the south. Many of them arrived there with swollen feet. "Many people fell because of exhaustion and could not continue walking, especially the elderly and children," said a fugitive in Mueda who did not wish to be named.

The government said dozens of people were killed in the attack, seven of whom were trapped as they were about to be evacuated from a hotel where they had sought refuge. A South African citizen was among those who died.

Witnesses told AFP that the Islamist rebels first targeted banks and police stations, before eventually spreading across the city.

Thousands of residents fled by boat to the City of Pemba. Another 10,000 people are waiting to be evacuated to be transported there, according to aid agencies.

The attack forced foreign workers and local residents to seek temporary shelter at a heavily fortified gas plant located on the nearby Afungi Peninsula. "A large number of civilians rescued from Palma were also transported to Afungi, where they received humanitarian and logistical assistance," the company Total said, in a statement.

Watch out for NEW Attacks

It is suspected "there will be new attacks on those who have been displaced," said Chance Briggs of the UK-based aid organization Save the Children.

Meanwhile, the head of the UN children's agency UNICEF, Henrietta Fore, feared the impact of attacks on children "will be brutal".

In just three years, an Islamic uprising in northern Mozambique has killed thousands of people. Adriano Nuvunga, executive director of the Center for DemocracyASI and Development (CDD) in Mozambique said: "Everyone has been asking over the last three years who these people are. There is an understanding that local grievances are driving this conflict, and may have been hijacked by international terrorist dynamics," Nuvunga told DW.

Nuvunga, a human rights activist, blamed marginalization and extraction of natural resources by elites without local development, as a critical source of conflict. French energy giant Total has invested $ 20 billion to extract liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Cabo Delgado. A network of illicit economic activities, including drug trafficking, brutality, and human rights violations by the various interests of politically exposed people, may also have contributed.

Threat to Neighboring Countries

Mozambique's violence has sent unease in neighboring Tanzania, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. "There are advantages already in Tanzania," said Alex Vines, head of the Africa program at Chatham House.

Earlier this month, the United States designated Islamic State in Mozambique a foreign terrorist organization. The US has named Abu Yasir Hassan - a Tanzanian national - as the leader of the group. The US this month began training Mozambican troops in counterinsurgency operations.

"It is important to remember that although it is at heart a Mozambique problem, it is also a regional issue," Vines said, adding that coordination and cooperation between Mozambique and Tanzania on this particular issue had increased.

However, Jasmine Opperman, a researcher at ACLED, sees US support as "a concrete step towards expanding its influence and presence" in the region. "This is clearly a US effort to take heart in Mozambique and various countries in Africa," Opperman told DW. He said he was concerned about "the internationalization of Cabo Delgado which may, in turn, ignore the root of the local problem. This gives the Islamic State in Mozambique it does not really have."

rzn / vlz (AFP / Chrispin Mwakideu)

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