Should Mozambique accept military aid in the face of the crisis in Cabo Delgado?
Mozambican army soldiers bring down a structure set on fire by attackers in Naunde, in northern Mozambique, on June 13, 2018. The Cabo Delgado region is the scene of attacks by jihadist groups which have multiplied in recent years. .
The latest large-scale attack was carried out in Palma, which led to tens of thousands of people fleeing to Pemba, the region's capital.
AFP - JOAQUIM NHAMIRRE
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
In a report published Friday, June 11, the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank believes that the Mozambican government, hitherto reluctant to any foreign intervention, should accept "measured" military aid to fight the jihadists who are terrorizing the province of Cabo Delgado, in the north of the country, for more than three years.
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President Filipe Nyusi has so far refused any idea of foreign military intervention, even that of the SADC, the regional organization, for a question of sovereignty.
According to ICG experts, a massive deployment of foreign troops could indeed push other jihadists to come and fight alongside the Mozambican Shebabs an international intervention.
However, ICG explains that targeted military aid is absolutely necessary.
Today, Maputo certainly calls on a private South African paramilitary group "
but that is not enough
", explains Dino Mahtani, Africa director of ICG.
“
It takes an appropriate level of military support to pressure these groups to consider surrender.
But also to offer them a way out,
”he continues, encouraging dialogue with the rebels, in particular on an amnesty.
For the moment, the Mozambican president is only asking for material and financial support which he has difficulty obtaining because of the risks of embezzlement in particular.
Elite training of the national army by the United States and Portugal is nevertheless underway.
ICG also recommends that the Mozambican government invest in this poor region in order to
"provide means of subsistence
"
to local populations who might be tempted to join the armed group.
The government of Mozambique is reluctant to accept foreign troops into its territory.
He prefers to ask for financial and material assistance, to manage his own problems in his territory.
What we are heading for is that Mozambique will receive specialized training from its Portuguese and American partners, so that its special forces can deploy more robustly this month in Cabo Delgado.
Dino Mahtani, Africa Program Director at ICG, and author of the report
Enola Richet
@CrisisGroup report on the insurrection in # Mozambique's #CaboDelgado.
https://t.co/WFXw1Zl1y0
- Dino Mahtani (@DinoMahtani) June 11, 2021
In a statement released Friday, the High Commissioner for Refugees counted nearly 3,000 dead and 800,000 people who fled the violence of the group now supported by the Islamic State.
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