from ARMANDO DOMINGOS in Maputo, Mozambique
Mozambique Bureau
MAPUTO, (CAJ News) – THE mission by the Defence Armed Forces of Mozambique (FADM) to exert maritime control has led to the killing of civilian fishermen and risks turning civilians against the military and instead supporting the terrorist groups the army is fighting.
This is according to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED), which has documented around 100 deaths since 2019, when the army intensified the crackdown.
ACLED, which specialises in the real-time collection, analysis and mapping of data on political violence and protest events around the world, reports that from 2019 to 2023, FADM targeted fishers five times, resulting in 13 fatalities.
In the less than two-and-a-half years since (including 2025), there have been ten such events resulting in at least 85 deaths, with most concentrated in Macomia.
The deadliest event was in January 2024, when FADM killed 30 fishermen close to Muissune Island (also known as Suna Island), approximately 20 km from Mocímboa da Praia town.
Fatalities were recorded, including this month (March 2025).
A FADM navy patrol fired on six fishing boats off Mocímboa da Praia on March 15, killing at least 13 people.
The killings came in the wake of a similar incident on March 6, when soldiers of FADM’s navy opened fire on a boat near Lucete, north of Calugo. There were no casualties.
“FADM is aiming to assert maritime control, but the effectiveness of its aggressive approach is questionable,” ACLED stated.
FADM’s restrictions on fishing stem from its concerns that Islamic State Mozambique (ISM) could move supplies and personnel in the guise of civilian boats.
There is, effectively, a current ban on small boat traffic close to shore.
“But it is unclear how FADM defines these restrictions, and it does not clearly communicate which areas are affected,” ACLED stated.
It noted that, with economic opportunities scarce in Cabo Delgado Province, many young men continued to go to sea, also aware of the restrictions.
ACLED has warned that FADM’s indiscriminate targeting of civilian boats is likely to build resentment towards the state in coastal communities and potentially encourage support for ISM.
Northern Mozambique has been under siege from Islamist groups.
– CAJ News