Mozambique | Islamic State takes over Palma – Thousands missing, displaced and dead – VIDEO

Defence Redefined

Published on 30/03/2021 at 11:47

The situation in northern Mozambique is currently out of control as the Islamic State has intensified its act in the region.

Fierce fighting for control of the strategic northern city of Palma, Mozambique left behind decapitated corpses on the streets, with heavily armed guerrillas fighting the army, the police and a private military company in various locations.

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Thousands are estimated to be missing from the city, which was home to about 70,000 people before the March 24 attack.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. The terrorist organization said it now controlled the banks, government offices, factories and army barracks in Palma and that more than 55 people, including Mozambican troops, Christians and foreigners, had been killed. Further details on the dead have not been provided.

In early March, the United States declared the Mozambican rebels a terrorist organization and announced that it had sent military experts to help train the Mozambican army to fight them. “IS-Mozambique, also known as Ansar al-Sunna (and locally as al-Shabaab in Mozambique), among other names, is said to have been associated with the Islamic State since April 2018 and was declared “partner” by the core of the IS in August 2019. Since October 2017, IS-Mozambique, led by Abu Yasir Hassan, has killed more than 1,300 civilians and it is estimated that more than 2,300 civilians, members of the security forces and suspected IS-Mozambican fighters have been killed after the terrorist group started the violent extremist uprising. The group was responsible for organising large-scale attacks that resulted in the capture of the strategic port of Mocimboa da Praia, in the province of Capo Delgato. IS-Mozambique attacks have displaced some 670,000 people in northern Mozambique.

Save The Children said the Islamic State had left behind horrific scenes of beheaded children in Palma.

Palma is the multi-billion dollar investment hub of Total, the French oil and gas company, to extract liquefied natural gas from offshore locations in the Indian Ocean. Gas deposits are estimated to be among the largest in the world and the investment by Total and other companies was reported to be $ 20 billion, one of the largest investments in Africa.

The battle for Palma forced Total to evacuate its large, fortified area a few miles (kilometers) outside the city.

By March 29, the city was completely devastated and fighting was taking place everywhere, according to Lionel Dyck, director of Dyck’s private military company, contracted by Mozambican police to help fight the insurgency.

“There is fighting in the streets, in pockets all over the city,” Dyck told The Associated Press. The Dyck team has several helicopters in Palma that were used to rescue civilians and fight insurgents.

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“My guys are airborne and they’ve engaged with several little groups and a quite large group,” Dyck said. “They (the men of his company) have landed into the fight to save some injured police officers…We have also rescued many people who were trapped, 220 people at the last count.

The guerrillas are well-equipped with AK-47 automatic rifles, RPD and PKM machine guns and heavy mortars,” Dyck said.

“This attack is not a surprise. We’ve been expecting Palma to be hit the moment the rains stopped and the fighting period started, which is now,” he said.

“It simply came to our notice then. They had enough time to organize their steps. They are more aggressive and they are using their mortars.” He also said that many were wearing black uniforms.

“There have been lots of beheadings. On the very first day, my men saw the truck drivers transporting human limbs to Palma. Their bodies were in trucks. Their heads were off.”

Dyck said it would not be easy for the Mozambican government to regain control of Palma.

“They have to get enough troops to sweep through the city, going from house to house and clean each one out. This is the most difficult phase of warfare,” Dyck said. “It will be very difficult, unless there is a competent force with good command and control to retake this city. It can be done. But it will not be easy.”

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More NGOs are calling for action in Capo Delgato

“The attack on Palma has aggravated an already dire humanitarian situation,” said Jonathan Whittall, chief analyst for Doctors Without Borders, which is working to help displaced people around Pemba, the provincial capital 160 km south of Palma.

“Across Cape Delgato, the situation was already extremely worrying for those displaced by the violence and for those in areas where humanitarian aid is difficult to reach,” Whittall said. “This attack on Palma has led to more displacements and will increase the needs that have to be addressed as a matter of urgency.”

“For too long, northern Mozambique has been a neglected humanitarian crisis,” Whittall said.

Hundreds of thousands of displaced people, children, women and men were beheaded in the streets, hundreds were killed in clashes and attacks in the north, and almost no action was taken.

As soon as Total’s $ 20 billion project was jeopardized, the entire international community began referring to a “big foul.” 

With information from: AP / Al Jazeera 

Also read: Mozambique | Government forces retake the city of “beheadings”