Mozambique Islamist insurgency causing horror

Mozambique is experiencing a growing insurgency that is causing “truly indescribable” horror, according to a leading Catholic charity.

The Islamist insurgency is taking place in the northern Cabo Delgado province. The al-Shabab — an Arabic word for “the young men” or “the lads” — are affiliated with the Islamic State Group. Although sharing the same name as the main Islamist group in Somalia, they are not affiliated with them — the Somali al-Shabab are affiliated with al Qaeda.

The insurgency began after locals objected to a liquid $60 billion natural gas (LNG) project operated by the French company, Total. Residents in Cabo Delgado have long complained that the wealth generated doesn’t trickle down to them. These complaints triggered the insurgency that began in 2017.

The insurgents have committed several atrocities in the region, including mass beheadings.

“Africa is no stranger to violence on a vast scale, but even by these standards, the horror of what is unfolding in Mozambique is truly indescribable — almost beyond compare,” said John Pontifex of Aid to the Church in Need UK (ACN).

“If Daesh [another name for the Islamic State] succeeds in a campaign of conquest, we can be in no doubt of the horrors to be visited on the people under the militants’ control. I have visited parts of Iraq and Syria soon after Daesh had been forced out and the misery inflicted the devastation and desecration, which we witnessed for ourselves, chilled me to the bone,” he told Crux.

Source: The Tablet