ISIS Mozambique: Savagery provokes Americans and hastens organization’s end

Ahmed Adel

The United States is determined to put an end to the activities of extremist organizations, especially the ISIS branches deployed in the African continent, following the brutal operations that have been carried out against civilians recently.

According to NBC, Washington affirmed its keenness to defeat and put an end to the presence of terrorist groups loyal to ISIS in Mozambique in southeast Africa after those groups had recently intensified their brutal attacks against civilians.

The network quoted officials and witnesses as saying that this group, known locally as Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama’a, took over vast areas in northern Mozambique and killed thousands of people, including children, in the Cabo Delgado region.

It has displaced more than 700,000 people living in extremely complex humanitarian conditions, and people are still fleeing in increasing numbers as the terrorist group continues its crimes.

According to the US embassy in Maputo, the United States is seeking to provide logistical support and military training to the Mozambican Marines “to support Mozambique’s efforts to prevent the spread of terrorism and violent extremism.”

A US State Department official told CBS News that in addition to the training, the US government is working to provide Mozambique with training in civil and military affairs.

In March 2021, the State Department designated ISIS’s arms in the Congo and Mozambique as foreign terrorist organizations.

A statement by the department announced that “two groups loyal to ISIS in the Congo and Mozambique have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations.”

The statement also pointed out that the leaders of the two groups, Abu Yasir Hassan and Seka Musa Baluku, have been classified as global terrorists.

ISIS had established what is known as the Central Africa State in April 2019 to promote the terrorist organization in the regions of Central, Eastern and Southern Africa.

Although the pro-ISIS media promote the Central African State as a single organization, in reality it is divided into two separate groups.

Reports indicate that Ansar al-Sunna declared its allegiance to ISIS in April 2018 and was recognized by the organization as a group affiliated with it in August 2019.

Since October 2017, ISIS in Mozambique, led by Abu Yasir Hassan, has killed more than 1,300 civilians at least. Indeed, some estimates indicate that more than 2,300 civilians and soldiers have been killed since the terrorist organization began its violent rebellion in the country.

The extremist group claimed responsibility for organizing a series of large-scale and complex attacks that led to the seizure of the strategic port of Mocimboa da Praia in Cabo Delgado province last year.

During 2017, Mozambique – especially the northern region – was subjected to increasing violence by the Ahl al-Sunna movement and the group controlling the northern region (the border region between Mozambique and Tanzania), and its attacks killed at least 200 people, destroyed villages, and forced thousands to flee.

The northernmost region of Mozambique, which is predominantly Muslim and rich in gas, has long been witnessing a wave of violence attributed to extremists who want strict application of Islamic law. More than 200 people were killed, slaughtered or burned in attacks on villages and ambushes on the roads.

Save the Children said in a report released on Tuesday, March 16 that it had received reports of children as young as 11 years old being beheaded, while girls are often captured and forced to marry jihadists.

It is noteworthy that the Cabo Delgado region, close to some of the largest gas reserves in the world, has been witnessing a violent rebellion for more than three years, but last year witnessed a dramatic escalation of the conflict.

The number of militants of this terrorist group is estimated at about 800 fighters, while their number did not exceed a few dozen in 2017.