EXPLAINER: Who are the rebels in northern Mozambique?

EXPLAINER: Who are the rebels in northern Mozambique?

The rebel attack on Mozambique’s northern town of Palma has highlighted the growth of the insurgency in the southern African country

By ANDREW MELDRUM Associated Press

April 2, 2021, 6:50 AM

• 5 min read

People form a line as they wait to be evacuated from near the northern Mozambican town of Palma, Thursday April 1, 2021. Thousands of residents have fled the fighting between insurgents and government forces, to nearby Tanzania and south to the provincial capital of Pemba, according to international aid agencies. The attack by rebels on Mozambique's northern town of Palma has highlighted the growth of the insurgency in the southern African country, creating a humanitarian crisis and jeopardizing multibillion-dollar investments.(Dave LePoidevin, MAF via AP)

JOHANNESBURG -- With more than a week of fierce fighting including beheaded bodies in the streets, the battle for the northern Mozambique town of Palma has highlighted the southern Africa country’s insurgency and threats to its multibillion-dollar investments.

Here's a look at what is known about the rebel group and the challenges facing Mozambique.

WHO ARE THE REBELS?

They're mostly unemployed young Muslim men from Cabo Delgado, the northernmost province on the country's long Indian Ocean coastline.

For centuries, most people there have been Muslims who traded with Swahili dhow sailors and coexisted with Catholicism brought by Portuguese colonial rulers.

Despite rich natural resources, the province has been one of Mozambique's least developed, with low levels of education, health services, and nutrition.

In recent years some unemployed youths have studied abroad on scholarships from Muslim organizations and locals say many returned preaching a more radical form of Islam. In 2017, violence erupted against government targets by a few small bands, often using machetes to kill police and officials.

The rebels have grown to several hundred, they use motorcycles and are now well-armed with automatic weapons and mortars. Military experts say many weapons come from abroad.

WHAT ARE THEY CALLED?

They are known locally as al-Shabab — Arabic for “youth” — but it seems to be just a handy nickname as they don't have any known affiliation with Somalia's jihadi rebels of the same name.

For a few years, the insurgents didn't appear to be linked to any group, but in 2019, the Islamic State group began claiming responsibility for their attacks, calling them the Islamic State Central African Province.

IS also posts photos and videos of the militants, often standing by the group's black flag. A video posted this week showed them dressed in a mix of camouflage and black shirts and red scarves, and speaking Swahili and some Arabic.

ARE THEY GAINING GROUND?

The number of attacks since 2017 has risen to more than 838, and more than 500 of those have been in the past year, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project.

More than 2,600 people have been killed. The humanitarian crisis has also dramatically increased, from 90,000 displaced at the start of 2020 to more than 670,000 now, according to U.N. organizations. More than 900,000 people in the area need food aid, according to the World Food Program.

After years of hit-and-run attacks, the rebels captured the port town of Mocimboa da Praia in August and have held it since then. They've attacked smaller towns in the surrounding area.

In one massacre, they beheaded 50 people on a soccer pitch, according to a report confirmed by the Catholic bishop of Pemba, the provincial capital, where hundreds of thousands have fled. The rebels target government offices, kill local officials and rob banks.

HOW IS THE GOVERNMENT RESPONDING?

President Filipe Nyusi's government in Maputo, in the southernmost part of Mozambique, has launched a counterterrorism offensive by the national police and the military.

It also has used a private military organization based in South Africa, the Dyck Advisory Group, which has sent helicopter gunships and other aircraft to find and attack the rebels.