It has been reported that Ansar al-Sunna (Helpers of Sunnah) is driven by Islamic fundamentalism. The attackers, who spoke Portuguese, Kiswahili and Kimwani (a language widely spoken along the coast of Cabo Delgado Province), killed two policemen during the raid. The terrorist insurgency in Mozambique is traced to 5 October 2017, when 20 armed members of the Ansar al-Sunna attacked three police stations (a police command, a natural resources and environment police patrol station, and a police post) in a pre-dawn raid in Mocímboa da Praia, a coastal district in Cabo Delgado Province.
Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images Background and Origins of Conflict and Insurgency in Mozambique
Insurgency in Mozambique has been instigated by poverty, lack of socio-economic opportunities, marginalisation and inequality. In doing so, the analysis focuses on the need, rationale, justifications, nature and form of interventions, as well as the possible nationwide and region-wide implications of such interventions. This article will therefore examine the role that SADC can play in managing and resolving the insurgency and conflict in Mozambique. This is despite the fact that the terrorist insurgency in Mozambique has the potential to cause instability and insecurity in the region, and that one of the objectives of SADC, as stated under Article 5 of the SADC Treaty of 1992, is “to promote peace and security”. Although the summit directed the urgent “finalization of a comprehensive regional response and support” to Mozambique, no concrete action has been taken thus far. At the SADC Extra-Ordinary Organ Troika Summit held on 27 November 2020 in Gaborone, Botswana, the regional body again “noted with concern” the ongoing insurgency in Cabo Delgado, and “expressed continued SADC solidarity with Mozambique”. Instead, SADC member states, at their 40 thOrdinary Summit of Heads of State and Government meeting in August 2020, only “expressed solidarity and commitment to support Mozambique in addressing the terrorism and violent attacks”. So far, the regional body has not intervened to assist in managing and resolving the conflict. Mozambique requested assistance and support from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states at the SADC Extra-Ordinary Organ Troika Summit of Heads of State and Government, held in Harare, Zimbabwe, on, to fight against the terrorist insurgency in northern Mozambique. It is now four years since the first attack in Mozambique was launched by Islamist militants on 5 October 2017. It has also disrupted economic activities, especially farming, thereby worsening food insecurity.
Although the Government of Mozambique continues to make concerted efforts to fight and subdue the terrorist insurgency through its national defence forces, the Forças Armadas de Defesa de Moçambique (FADM), a series of battles with the terrorist militants has resulted in widespread violence, insecurity, the death of over 2 400 people and the displacement of over 500 000 civilians by the end of November 2020. Since early October 2017, when the Islamist militants or jihadists – identified as the Ansar al-Sunna – launched their first attacks in the villages and towns of Mozambique’s northern province of Cabo Delgado, insurgency and conflict has continued to escalate, targeting civilians, public infrastructure and government buildings.