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Since October 2017, Cabo Delgado Province has been an arena of armed conflict, translating into destruction and looting, abductions and killings of civilian populations. The conflict intensified throughout 2020, with attacks on district headquarters villages, leading to the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of individuals. The history of armed conflicts in Mozambique shows that they have had enormous impacts on the civilian population, placed between two opposing groups: rebel...

Following the recent attacks in Palma Sede, DTM teams in Nangade, Mueda, Montepuez, and Pemba districts continue to register significant rise in IDP arrivals since 27 March. On 26 April 2021, an estimated number of 1,118 IDPs were registered in the four districts bringing the total number of IDPs to 27,913 people who have been displaced from Palma. IDPs continue to arrive in Nangade on foot and by bus from Nangade to Mueda, Montepuez, and Pemba.

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 15 April 2021, an estimated number of 1,260 IDPs were registered in the four districts bringing the total number of IDPs to 19,921 people who have been displaced from Palma. IDPs continue to arrive in Nangade on foot and by bus from Nangade to Mueda, Montepuez, and Pemba.

Insurgents struck throughout Nangade district last week, nearly isolating Nangade town in a series of attacks. On 1 March, insurgents began setting roadblocks on the R763 south of Nangade town, cutting off the main route between Nangade and Mueda. The same day, insurgents killed two farmers working near the village of Eduardo Mondlane, just east of Litingina. On 2 March, more insurgent roadblocks sprang up near Muiha village, in the northwest of Nangade district, near where the borders...

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...

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...

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...

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.

This article intends to reflect around the level of poverty and inequality existing among the various ethno-linguistic groups of the province, trying to gauge the extent to which they may be at the root of the current conflict. In this sense, 94 individuals were interviewed in the districts of Palma, Mocímboa da Praia, Macomia, Muidumbe and Montepuez (macuas, macondes, muânis and mácues), trying to understand what representations they build on the different ethno-linguistic groups in the...

Mozambique and France are discussing a military maritime cooperation agreement, a diplomatic source in the European country told Lusa in the context of possible support in the fight against terrorism in Cabo Delgado. "No operational military support has been provided to Cabo Delgado by the French

The August 2019 Maputo Accord on Peace and Reconciliation appears not to be standing on entirely solid ground. Not only has the decentralization agreement suffered from last minute ‘adulteration’, but also the DDR process has been lacking speed and rigour. The circumstances and outcomes of the October 2019 elections have cast doubt on the extent to which Renamo will abide to the August 2019 agreement. The party appears to be split on the matter of the – officially disowned armed Junta...

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...

The violent insurgency in northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, that started in October 2017 and is still ongoing, caught the government of the country and the public by surprise. Although this insurgency remains largely unexplored and little understood, the only study done so far has suggested that it is being carried out by Muslim youth connected to Islamic radicalism, in particular to the Harakat alShabaab of Somalia and its offshoots in Kenya, Tanzania, and as far as DRC.1 Islam...

Joseph Hanlon argues that Mozambique’s new “Islamic” insurgency is about marginalised youth demanding to be heard, and therefore is similar to anti-establishment protest across the world.

This report uses a political economy analysis to shed light on some of the paradoxes that characterise Mozambique mid 2017: Entrenched poverty, the resuscitated armed conflict/war, the trust crisis between the Mozambican (Frelimo) government and its development partners, the spiralling debt and the party-state.

A partir de um modelo de previsões sobre dominância e a dinâmica de recrutamento nos partidos da oposição em sistemas de partido dominante, pretendeu-se perceber as dinâmicas do conflito político em Moçambique que culminaram com o agravamento da tensão militar entre as forças armadas do Governo moçambicano, e o maior partido da oposição, a RENAMO. Pode-se tomar como hipóteses que a assimetria de recursos entre o partido dominante no poder, a FRELIMO, e o maior partido da oposição, bem como...

This research adds depth to our understanding of development as a political process, provides rich evidence based on country experience, and points to the questions which aid agencies must address in order to be effective – including in more fragile countries. It demonstrates that durable reforms need to be constructed, nationally and locally, in a way that fits each political context and it challenges donors to build the capacity to contribute to this effectively

The major cross-cutting issues which featured prominently in all the thematic areas are highlighted below. A comprehensive approach is needed to address these issues as they have wider ramification for the various dimensions of governance in Mozambique. The following are the major thirteen crosscutting issues emerging from this report: Poverty and Inequality; Party/government/business dichotomy; HIV/AIDs; Land Ownership; High levels of illiteracy; High aid dependency; Information flow and...

This report forms part of a portfolio of work on youth focussed on two interconnected thematic areas: youth, jobs and growth and on youth exclusion, fragile states and conflict and complements work being conducted to develop a Youth Participation Guide for DFID staff. It is intended to inform a DFID Policy Briefing and a practical Guidance Note on addressing youth exclusion and unemployment. The objectives of the study are: (i) To scope out existing evidence and analysis on the links between...