Tough time for Mozambique because of terrorism
Terrorist organizations in southeast Africa, especially in Mozambique, become more brutal day after another.
On January 14, what is known as the Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a group staged an attack on a passenger bus in northern Mozambique, killing 12 people.
The Mozambican army mourned the victims, referring to an increase in the number of patrols over the roads in the area.
"Nonetheless, these patrols did nothing to prevent the attack," the army said in a statement.
The attack took place in the Cabo Delgado Province near the border between Mozambique and Tanzania. This region is known to contain huge natural gas reserves. Most of the residents of the province are hard-line Muslims who were involved in violent activities that forced the inhabitants of neighboring villages to escape.
There is indication that Islamist groups in Mozambique are changing their ideological strategies. They used to stage attacks against remote areas. Now, however, the same groups stage attacks throughout the whole of Mozambique.
The pace of attacks increased as soon as the New Year started. O n January 12, Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a members killed four people and injured four others as they travelled in a car through the village of Manilha. A week earlier, the same group killed seven civilians in the nearby Olumbe village. The members of the group first ambushed the car of the victims and then set it on fire after the attack.
A week ago, a man was killed and dismembered at a rice farming area, only five kilometers away from Mozambican capital Maputo. On November, 12 people were killed in northern Mozambique. The attack caused thousands of villages to run away in fear into neighboring Tanzania. In October, extremists carried out an attack with knives and set private properties on fire. This came at a time Mozambican authorities worked hard to tap the natural gas potential in the northern part of the country.
The Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a said it had controlled the northern part of Mozambique, near the border with Tanzania. According to Mozambican police, the group wanted to set up training camps in the area.
The Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a is a radical Salafist group that is based in Mozambique. It started as a peaceful religious organization that promoted peace and calm. In 2015, however, a change happened inside the group, turning it into an anti-government militia.
Operations staged by the group mimic the modus operandi of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria as well as Boko Haram. Mozambique is a predominantly Christian country (57.6% of its population is Christian, 18% Muslim and 17.9% atheists).
The government works hard to crack down on terrorism. It closed down several mosques, especially those frequented by extremists. It ordered the closure of three mosques in Cabo Delgado Province in 2018.
Nevertheless, Mozambique is badly in need of non-military measures to end terrorist presence in it. One of the measures is for the government to deal more constructively with the problems of Muslim citizens.
