Africa Monitor Intelligence

Mozambique: Anti-Terrorism Training Moves Forward, Along with Approach to Insurgents

Faced with the inability to regain control over areas of Cabo Delgado province by military means, where Islamic-inspired armed groups remain active, FILIPE NYUSI´s (FN) Government has been exploring the possibility of negotiating with the insurgency leaders and, as determined, carried out diligences with religious leaders in the province - Islamic and Catholic - with a view to identifying and later approaching the leaders of the insurgents. This approach aims, according to consulted sources, to buy time while the Government is preparing for a military response equal to the insurgents' military maneuverability, at least to contain the spread of the conflict. 
In the medium term, the executive's goal is the formation/ intensive training of special forces to combat insurgents, which is expected to be prolonged. According to military sources, the FDS leadership now agrees that the conflict will require a long-term approach, making it necessary to reinforce human and logistical capacities for a more extended military effort, trying to contain the escalation of the conflict and limiting it to low intensity. 
While the first two groups are part of the Joint Command, integrating elements from various branches of the FDS - FADM and elements from UIR/ GOE - the group being trained in Nacala is exclusively composed of FADM commandos in what is understood as the affirmation of a favorable current to the gradual removal of the PRM from the operational theater, defended mainly by the leaders of the FADM. However, there remain signs of a dispute of influence between the leaders of the FADM and PRM (AM 1266). READ MORE