from ARMANDO DOMINGOS in Maputo, Mozambique
Mozambique Bureau
MAPUTO, (CAJ News) – MORE than a week into Ramadan, Islamist insurgents wreaking havoc in northern Mozambique are reportedly focusing on sourcing supplies of food and other basic necessities.
Stocking up on food essentials to ensure sufficient supplies for the end of the fast is standard practice but in Mozambique, this has added a new dimension to the insurgency characterising the region since 2017.
Cabo Delgado province is the epicentre.
Ramadan begins on the evening of February 17 and is to conclude on the evening of March 19.
The non-profit Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) has documented some incidents of human rights violations in the sourcing of food by the Islamic State Mozambique (ISM) in recent days.
Along the coast and on offshore islands, interactions with communities have been relatively subdued, with supplies either taken or purchased.
In one of the latest documented incidents, some commercial vehicles were ambushed outside Quinto Congresso village last Sunday.
Clashes continued on Monday and Tuesday.
“The primary purpose of the ambush was to loot goods,” ACLED stated.
According to, sacks of rice from one truck were taken into the bush.
Around 100 ISM militants, including children, were reportedly involved in the attack.
Four days into ISM reportedly sent children to buy rice and other goods in the Nambubussi neighborhood on the outskirts of Mocímboa da Praia and then sailed to Ulo where they allegedly made more purchases.
At least seven people were said to be kidnapped.
In the run-up to Ramadan, ISM was reportedly approaching a number of villages for food and other basic supplies along the Palma and Mocímboa da Praia coasts.
The less confrontational nature of these approaches has authorities in a dilemma whether these were approaches or it is some citizens supporting the insurgents.
Meanwhile, entrepreneurs are bearing the brunt on the Macomia coast, where ISM and state forces from Mozambique and Rwanda vie for control.
In Nacutuco, people believed locally to be from the National Criminal Investigation Service recently arrested a trader suspected of being part of ISM’s logistics network.
In the nearby Nambo village, an unidentified armed group reportedly raided the premises of a trader who also operates as a mobile money agent, stealing MTN80 000 (over US$1 200).
Earlier, the detention of a businessman in Macomia, by an unidentified armed group believed locally to be security forces, triggered demonstrations in the town.
Data by ACLED indicates six people were killed between February 9 and 22, bringing the deaths to 6 466 from October 1, 2017.
– CAJ News