ISIS threatening foreign investments in Mozambique
ISIS continues to target regions rich with mineral resources in Mozambique.
The terrorist
organization does this through successive bloody attacks that threaten the
security of society and harm foreign investments in this African country.
Clashes erupted on June
23 between government forces and terrorists in Palma, in the northern Cabo
Delgado province.
The extremists tried to
attack a center for the government's security forces near the region's most
prominent natural gas project.
However, the government
forces repelled the attack, using civilian planes.
ISIS's operations in
northern Mozambique have become a constant show, amid requests by the government
for international assistance.
African leaders pledged
during their meeting in the capital, Maputo, to help the country defeat the
extremists.
Implications
The sequence of attacks
in northern Mozambique refers to the presence of security loopholes.
It also highlights the importance
of the region to international terrorist organizations.
The region where most
of the attacks are concentrated is home to Mozambique's most important gas
project.
The volume of foreign
investments in gas projects in Cabo Delgado is about $60 billion, according to
some news reports.
A large number of
foreign companies invest in Mozambique's gas projects, most notably France and
Russia.
The French giant,
Total, was forced to suspend its work in projects in Cabo Delgado due to
security problems and escalating violence.
The company also evacuated
its workers for fear for their life, which illustrates the impact of the
attacks on the country's economic stability.
The Mozambican
government pledged to maintain security in the region, after the French company
announced the suspension of its operations in Cabo Delgado in March of this
year.
This caused Total to
return its workers to work sites. Nevertheless, a few days later, the terrorists
hit again and slapped a siege on Palma, a city in the region.
They forced everybody
to flee and Total to suspend its work again.
