TerrorismIslamists Killed Dozens in Mozambique as Insurgency Intensifies

More than fifty young people were shot dead or beheaded in northern Mozambique as an Islamist insurgency gains strength. Local and national security forces, as well as foreign mercenaries hired by the government – including the notorious Wagner Force from Russia — have been unable to keep the militants in check.

The 52 people were massacred in a village in northern Mozambique when they refused to join a regional Islamist terror group. The attack occurred in the village of Xitaxi in the Muidumbe district, about 60 miles from the border with Tanzania.

“The criminals tried to recruit young people to join their ranks, but there was resistance. This provoked the anger of the criminals, who indiscriminately killed, cruelly and diabolically, 52 young people,” police spokesman Orlando Mudumane said in a statement to public broadcaster TVM.

The attack occurred on 7 April but has only just been disclosed by the authorities. Locals told French news agency AFP that the militants destroyed local schools, hospitals, and a bank, as well as setting fire to bridge-building equipment.

The BBC reports that the Islamist insurgency, which began in Mozambique’s isolated northeast region in 2017,has driven more than 200,000 people from their homes. More than 900 people have been killed.

Until recently, the militants had mostly targeted remote villages, but recently have began to attack larger towns and cities in the region. In March, Islamist insurgents briefly occupied the district capital, Mocimboa da Praia. They burned several government buildings and an army barracks, which was empty because the soldieers had run away.

Initially, the insurgents sought to become the leaders of the anti-government sentiment among the region’s resident, who believe they have been neglected by the country’s central government in Maputo. The locals’ mistrust of the central government has only deepened in the last year, as vast natural gas and oil reserves were discovered off the region’s coast. Although the country’s president comes from the northeast region, the initial steps taken by his government have convinced the locals that they would not be benefitting from the new off-coast riches.

The gunmen, who initially always hid behind masks, have begun to remove their face coverings during attacks and have aligned themselves more openly with Islamist fundamentalists. Some of their units have been spotted flying the black and white “Islamic State” flag after committing acts of terror.

Earlier this months, the Islamist group’s leadership has announced that the group’s aim was to turn Mozambique into a Muslim “caliphate.”

Analysts say that the insurgency is not a cohesive movement, but rather a fragile coalition of several groups and offshoots, without an agreed-upon name. When a name was used in claims of responsibility for past attacks, it was often the “Islamic State Central Africa Province.” Locals also refer to the insurgents as “al-Shabaab,” although there is no evidence of a link between the fighting in Mozambique and the terrorist group with the same name, based in Somalia.