Your search

After suffering decades of under-investment, government negligence, and crushing poverty, the province of Cabo Delgado, the poorest in Mozambique, is now the site of a raging insurgency. Over 1,300 civilians have been killed; another 500,000 have been displaced, and towns and villages have been left in ruins. Fighting has intensified since an armed group locally known as Al-Shabaab attacked the northern port town of Mocímboa da Praia in October 2017. In a series of attacks, Al-Shabaab has...

In This Report: Analysis of the IS claim of the Palma attack in the context of the overall relationship between IS and the Cabo Delgado insurgency Discussion of growing tensions between displaced people, host communities, and aid organizations in districts with growing displaced populations Update on international involvement in the Cabo Delgado conflict and analysis of the role that South African companies Dyck Advisory Group and Paramount Group play in the conflict

On 22 February, insurgents conducted two attacks along the border between Nangade and Mocimboa da Praia districts. The first, a morning attack, took place at Ingalonga, Nangade district. Insurgents beheaded two people there. Later that day, across the border in Mitope, Mocimboa da Praia district, insurgents captured three women and three men who had been working in their fields. One woman was released, and the three men were beheaded. Local militias deployed to the area in response, but no...

A review of key developments in 2020 with a look toward trends to watch in the coming year.

Following the recent attacks in Palma Sede, DTM teams in Nangade, Mueda, Montpuez, and Pemba districts continue to register significant rise in IDP arrivals since 27 March. On 10 April 2021, an estimated number of 603 were registered in the four districts bringing the total number of IDPs to 15,179 People who have been displaced from Palma continue to arrive in Nangade on foot and by bus from Nangade to Mueda, Montepuez, and Pemba.

As of 15 April, over 20,0001 people from Palma are forcibly displaced, in the aftermath of Non-State Armed Group (NSAG) attacks on 24 March. They fled to the districts of Nangade, Mueda, Montepuez and Pemba by land, foot, air and sea. This is in addition to the nearly 700,000 already displaced in the provinces of Cabo Delgado, Nampula, Niassa, Sofala and Zambezia as a result of violence and insecurity in Cabo Delgado. UNHCR received reports that several families from Palma attempted to seek...

OCHA Humanitarian Response Plan for Northern Mozambique Conflict.

This evidence synthesis drew on a mixture of academic and grey literature. While the literature on Kenyan women and Al-Shabaab was quite extensive (albeit with gaps, e.g. on returnees), nothing was found on women and Ansar al-Sunnah/violent extremist groups operating in northeastern Mozambique and the Mozambique-Tanzania cross-border region. This report should be read in conjunction with two earlier reviews of gender and CVE (Idris & Abdelaziz, 2017; Idris, 2019). This report builds on those...

For almost three years, the ISIS-affiliated extremist group Ansar al-Sunna has spearheaded an insurgency in Mozambique’s northern province of Cabo Delgado. In recent months the situation in Cabo Delgado has deteriorated significantly and violent attacks are now frequent. Militants have begun to target military positions having previously focused on civilian targets. It is a sign that the group is growing in resilience, operational capacity and confidence. From its first few attacks in...

Analisa as dinâmicas da insurgência em Cabo Delgado e procura interrogar o que Moçambique pode aprender dos seus ciclos de violência armada, particularmente a guerra civil, para fazer face ao actual conflito no Norte do país.

Since the October 2017 attacks by alleged Islamist insurgents, commonly referred to as Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jama and locally know as Al Shabab, on Mocimboa da Praia, it has not been entirely clear who the attackers were, what their strategic objectives are and on whose domestic and international support they rely. This paper, grounded in a historical understanding of conflict in northern Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado Province, seeks to identify possible stakeholders and scenarios in what we no longer see as an insurgency, but a war.

O impacto do terrorismo em Moçambique é uma realidade que não se restringe apenas à zona Norte do país. O IDeIAS nº 137, da autoria de Moisés Siúta, procura discutir as suas implicações nos sistemas formais de protecção social tendo em conta o desafio que enfrentam de garantir protecção e bem-estar social da população nas regiões mais afectadas sem, no entanto, deixar para trás a população vulnerável a diversos riscos como seca, cheias e a pandemia.

No final do seminário e das oficinas-grupos de trabalho procedeuse a um debate aberto para partilha das reflexões e identificação de conclusões principais: • A participação em espaços de consulta/decisão está muito condicionada pela falta de conhecimentos de quem participa, mas também pela falta de transparência e assimetria da informação. • A exclusão social está na base da pouca ou fraca participação e monitoria. • A qualidade da monitoria nos processos de governação e desenvolvimento é...

Este ensaio, escrito em Março de 2018, procura explicar, numa perspectiva histórica, ataques violentos recentemente perpetrados contra instituições locais e representantes do Estado moçambicano. São usados estudos de caso de três províncias moçambicanas, aos quais se acrescentam casos históricos de ataques armados com padrões e alvos semelhantes. Com base em investigação documental, entrevistas e análise da literatura de Antropologia e Economia Política, são identificadas três causas...

Insurgents have attacked towns and villages in Cabo Delgado, the poorest province in Mozambique. The government has responded by sending in the military to stamp out the assailants, using ‘whatever it takes’, amid suspicions that foreign fighters from Tanzania have radicalised local youth who are behind the violence. Other measures to counter the violence include an extra-judicial state of emergency and the suppression of information.

Este artigo analisa o fenómeno da radicalização islâmica no Norte de Moçambique, explorando a complexidade das dinâmicas não só na origem do grupo dos Al-Shabaab como também na estrutura do próprio conflito e violência em Cabo Delgado. Os autores consideram que o fenómeno exige uma pesquisa multidisciplinar aprofunda­da que tome em conta uma multiplicidade de factores de ordem histórica, social, política, económica e religiosa. Acesso à versão inglesa aqui.

On October 5, 2017, a group of armed men attacked three police stations in Moçimboa da Praia, starting nearly two years of violence and insecurity that still show no sign of ending. Between the first October incident and August 27, 2019, extremists conducted 173 attacks—79 percent of which were committed against civilians—resulting in over 350 deaths, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Database (ACLED).1 There is no consensus on the name or construct of the group committing...

Coastal livelihood interventions can help communities by providing additional incomes, while protecting and maintaining resources and the environment. The identification and promotion of resilient and diversified livelihood opportunities are crucial to enhance communities’ adaptive capacity to respond to the multiple stresses and shocks in a changing coastal environment. Coastal livelihood opportunities are especially important in their support for biodiversity conservation in and around...

Final JICA report on Nacala Corridor Development Project, whose objectives include: to clarify organizations for promoting and coordinating the implementation of development strategies for the Nacala Corridor Region in accordance with PEDEC-Nacala and to prepare for the implementation of high priority projects in accordance with PEDEC-Nacala. The study project commenced in April 2012 and the final study report was produced in April 2015.

This essay seeks to explain, in a historical perspective, recent violent attacks on local institutions and representatives of the Mozambican state. Case studies are taken from three Mozambican Provinces, to which historical cases are added showing similar patterns and targets of armed attacks. Based on desk research , interviews and the review of anthropological and political economy literature, the main causes of local conflicts – all of which with their specific contexts and narratives –...