Executive Summary:
In Mozambique, in
February the Islamic State Mozambique (ISM) insurgents appear to have broken
into three main fighting groups which in the past two weeks carried out
simultaneous attacks Mueda, Montepuez, and Meluco districts. The attacks had
the intention of cutting off the two main highways connecting the north and
south of Cabo Delgado province. A sizable insurgent force is still operating
around Mocímboa da Praia, threatening the security of the district headquarters
The militancy in Cabo
Delgado appears to be emulating al Shabaab, the al Qaeda-affiliated group in
Somalia as they seek to establish a shadowy government in the north of
Mozambique. The militants have warned villagers against collaboration with
security forces, promising a better life if they cooperated with them, promised
to pay for their supplies as well as urged the residents not to fear them or
flee from their homes.
Rwandan president Paul
Kagame assured Mozambican president Nyusi that Rwanda would remain steadfast in
its support for Mozambique in fighting the insurgency in Cabo Delgado. He
maintained that Rwandan forces would remain deployed in Cabo Delgado as
Mozambican security forces worked to improve their capacity to combat the
insurgency.
In DRC Islamic State
Central Africa Province (ISCAP) appears to have resulted in conducting attacks
along the main roads in both North Kivu and Ituri provinces. The attacks have
been used to restock their supplies and weapons and take advantage of the
attention other rebel groups like M23 and CODECO have been receiving especially
with the presence of East African troops deployed in Goma.
In Somalia, the US
killed Bilal al-Sudani a key figure in the Islamic State network in Africa in
an operation conducted by Special forces in Puntland. Al Sudani was very
instrumental and an important leader for the Islamic State’s operations across
much of eastern, central, and southern Africa. The group also suffered more
setbacks after the wife of the group’s leader was sentenced to prison for being
an active financial facilitator for the group, especially in Mogadishu where
was arrested.
Incident Report:
MOZAMBIQUE
§ 27th Feb– ISM militants carried out an armed assault
on the Muambala village in the Muidumbe district.
§ 25th Feb– a man was killed and his wife was kidnapped
near Muambala village In Muidumbe district
§ 22nd Feb– ISM insurgents conducted an attack on a
Nicocue village located along the R698 road that links Mueda and Montepuez in
Cabo Delgado. The attack was on a bus that was set on fire but all the
passengers escaped unharmed.
§ 22nd Feb– armed militants attacked a village in Palma
district where they looted for supplies and left.
§ 22nd Feb– ISM militants attacked Vila de Mocimboa
located in Mocimboa da Praia
§ 21st Feb– Nikokwe village located in the Montepuez region
of CD was attacked by armed ISM militants.
§ 17th Feb– at least two women were kidnapped in Maputo
village located between Palma and MDP after the militants clashed with local
forces.
§ 14th Feb– there was an attack by the ISM terrorists in
Miangalewa village in the Muidumbe district.
§ 13th Feb- Armed militants attacked and burned a
military base in Nairoto village in the Montepuez district of Cabo Delgado. At
least five soldiers were killed in the attack.
§ 12th Feb- ISM insurgents attacked a Border Guard’s
position in Nairoto, Montepuez they looted shops & burned 2 police
vehicles.
§ 10th Feb- ISM left a handwritten letter in Mwiriti
Concession in Nairoto, Montepuez district. The letter was urging the civilians
not to flee in an attempt to win over the residents by suggesting that the
group wasn’t attacking them but rather just looking to restock.
§ 04th Feb- ISM insurgents targeted and attacked
Christians in Miula village in Mueda District.
§ 06TH Feb- there were clashes between the terror
organization and the military after they attempted to attack Christians along
the N381 road in Namacule village in Muidumbe district.
§ 04th Feb- at least one person was killed when ISM
militants conducted an ambush targeting the vehicles of Christians on the N380
road near Mitambo village between Macomia and Pemba, Meluco districts.
§ 05th Feb- five Christians were executed in Chapa
village in the Mueda district.
§ 04th Feb- ISM cells attacked Christians in Namulo
village in Montepuez where they burned several buildings. Intelligence shows
that the militants had been roaming around the area in small cells.
§ 01st Feb- Mozambican troops were ambushed by
insurgents on the road that links Makao and Macomia in Cabo Delgado.
§ 01st Feb- at least 7 people were killed and
another 7 were seriously injured and several vehicles were razed following an
attack by ISM on N380 near the village of 19 de Outubro, just 5 km north of
Mitambo.
THE DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF CONGO
§ 27th Feb– ISCAP militants clashed with Ugandan and
Congolese troops in Kabasiwa in the Mulekia area located between RN4 and RN44
in the Beni region.
§ 24th Feb– at least two people were killed when armed
ISCAP militants attacked Army barracks in the Karuruma area between RN4 and RN2
in North Kivu Province.
§ 18th Feb– at least 12 people were taken hostage by
ISCAP militants from the village of Kithuma in the locality of Lisasa in the
Buliki group in Beni.
§ 12th Feb- 12 people were killed in a nighttime assault
on the RN27 in the Irumu area in Ituri.
§ 10th Feb- 4 Christians were killed in an ambush by
ISCAP on the RN4 in Ndalya in Ituri province.
§ 10th Feb- ISCAP ambushed a trade convoy on the RN2
between Beni and Kasindi in North Kivu.
§ 10th FEB- 3 people were killed by ISCAP terrorists
in an armed assault along the RN4 in Mahala in Ituri province.
§ 09th Feb- ISCAP conducted two attacks on a Ugandan
Army patrol between the RN2 and RN4 on the way to Karuhamba, Mwalika region in
North-Kivu province.
§ 08th Feb- armed insurgents killed 3 people on the
RN4 road in Malibongo in Ituri province.
§ 08th Feb- 12 people were killed in an armed ISCAP
assault on the RN4 road in Oicha in the Beni region.
§ 1st Feb- ISCAP ambushed a Christian convoy
killing one persona and razing a motorcycle along the RN4 between Komanda and
Erengeti in Ituri Province.
§ 1st Feb- 3 people were killed in an armed assault
along the RN4 in the Idohu area in Ituri province.
SOMALIA
§ 13th Feb- Islamic State Somalia (ISS) militants
attacked a military convoy carrying the electoral team with an IED in Wadi Jeil
Southeast of Bosaso in Puntland.
§ 11th Feb- ISS detonated an IED targeting a vehicle
carrying a Somali government official in the Karan neighborhood in Mogadishu.
NOTABLES:
Mozambique
In Mozambique, ISM
insurgents appear to have broken into three main fighting groups that appear to
be moving in small-cell groups of fighters. In the Nangade district, allied
Mozambican and SAMIM forces pushed insurgents out of the Nkonga forest and across
the Nangade-Pundahar road. Felling the pressure of the military operations
against them the insurgents have resulted in alternative means to win over
territory by seemingly appealing and assuring the residents they were there to
peacefully purchase supplies, a trend that is being observed across the
province.
In February due to
heavy rainfall which has affected the mobility of both insurgents and security
forces the number of attacks has been very minimal. Thus, especially in the
second half of the month, few attacks were recorded as most parts of the nation
experienced heavy rain as well as flooding caused by a recent cyclone.
A note left in a
settlement near Nairoto in the Montepuez district implored villagers who had
fled not to fear the insurgents, and that they were willing to pay for what
they had taken for their basic needs. The note also left that stated; Muslims
who contacted the mobile number on the leaflet would be paid, but Christians
would need to either convert to Islam or submit to pay tax. Elsewhere, they
warned villagers against collaboration with security forces, promising a better
life if they cooperated with them.
Due to the onslaught
by the allied troops, the insurgents tried and failed to cross the Rovuma river
into Tanzania and returned to the Nkonga forest according to intelligence. The
failure to cross over to new AORs can be partially credited to the recent moves
by the militants to make nice with the civilians, and attempts at the
establishment of a shadowy government as is the case of the al Shabaab in
Somalia.
Civic participation in
the eradication and apprehension of militants has increased with the previously
broken trust between the population and the security forces being gradually
restored. The populace has also been taking proactive measures in ensuring that
the militants are arrested in an effort to ensure the gains made by the allied
troops and the resumption of normalcy in the affected regions. Four suspected
insurgents were also arrested in the Nabubusi neighborhood of MDP town after
they returned home for food and were reported to the authorities by their
mothers.
The United Nations has
maintained that according to intelligence, the group has greatly reduced in
numbers but it appears to have become more effective. The report by the UN said
that the remaining insurgents have shown enhanced strategic and tactical
coordination, forcing the overextension of regional forces with attacks in
northern, central, and southern Cabo Delgado. Additionally, it appears that the
group has been attacking economic infrastructure and projects decapitating the
economic growth and sustainability of the province. At the same time, it is
evident that the group is seeking to appeal to the population and as such
reduced the number of civilian casualties.
DRC
There were civil riots
and protests against the EACRF and the MONUSCO peacekeeping troops for what was
termed as a lack of pressure against the rebel and terror groups active in the
restive eastern region. At last eight protesters were killed and 28 others
injured during an assault on the UN Peacekeeping convoy in Goma.
In Ituri province,
security continues to deteriorate as ISCAP continues to attack the civilian
population, looting and killing the residents, especially in Irumu territory.
It appears that the militants continue to exploit the fact that most of the
military attention is on Goma fighting the Rwandan-backed rebels. This split
attention has provided ISCAP with an opportunity to restock supplies especially
by attacking the trade convoys along the main road that connects North Kivu and
Ituri provinces.
There was a video
circulating on social media of a group of ISCAP militants pledging allegiance
to the IS Caliph as well as praising foreign fighters in an undisclosed
location in DRC.
The census of voters
for the December presidential election in eastern DRC is a very delicate
operation in a region infested with armed groups and whose portions of
territory are occupied by rebels. ISCAP alongside other rebel groups has been
attacking villages a move that analysts project is geared at undermining the
electoral process and elections slated for later in December.
The Congolese and
Ugandan armies have called ISCAP terrorists who are still active in the regions
of Beni and Ituri to surrender and lay down their arms. The spokesperson for
the joint Congolese and Ugandan armies’ operations terrorists,
Lieutenant-Colonel Mak Hazukay, made the call during the periodical press
briefing. He emphasized that both governments have already made significant
efforts to end the insurgency and have shown good faith by treating those who
surrender or are captured humanely.
Somalia
The death of Bilal
al-Sudani has caused a major hitch in the financial network of not only ISS but
also other provinces including ISM and ISCAP. Intelligence indicates that Al
Sudani headed the Islamic State’s Al-Karrar regional office which is in charge
of the Sub-Saharan provinces, and their affairs and provides a bridge beyond
Africa. The Sudanese has shown his shrewd nature and is believed to have
received and disbursed millions from various financial facilitators and various
groups.
Islamic State Somalia
(ISS) has propped itself as a major player in the coordination and facilitation
of the Islamic State’s affairs across much of Africa. This role more than makes
up for what the group lacks in tactical threat as compared to other branches
such as IS in DRC, Mozambique, and the larger Sahel and Maghreb regions.
ISS suffered another setback after the wife of
the leader of Daesh in Somalia, Abdulkadir Mu’min, Fartun Abdirashid Hussein,
was sentenced to eight years in military prison., the wife of Abdulqadir
Mu’min, was sentenced to eight years in military prison and was in charge of
the group’s financial operations through her working relationship with the
recently killed Bilal Al-Sudani. She was also charged with housing and offering
refuge to members of the terror organization.
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