Mozambican Insurgency Targets Children in Cabo Delgado Province

The insurgent group known as al-Shabab has taken to targeting children in a new wave of militant demonstrations in the Cabo Delgado province. (Flickr)

The United States agreed to provide military aid to Mozambique on March 15 in light of a military insurgency growing in the northern Cabo Delgado province. Mozambican military forces have struggled for three years to fight the jihadist organization, known locally as al-Shabab (Young People, in Arabic). Recent attacks on civilians have caused many to flee their homes out of fear. 

Amassing support from the widely-unemployed youth in the predominantly Muslim region of Cabo Delgado, al-Shabab has steadily grown since 2017. Unlike the Somali terror group with a similar name (al-Shabaab) which is allied with al-Qaeda, the Mozambican group affiliated itself with the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2019. This alliance was confirmed last year when ISIS released footage of insurgents fighting in Cabo Delgado. 

The Roots of Insurgency

The insurgency can be traced to widespread dissatisfaction with resource distribution in the province. Although Mozambique’s GDP rose by an estimated 6 percent according to 2020 data, the poverty level still increased. 

In 2009, vast ruby deposits were discovered in Montepuez, the second largest province in Cabo Delgado, which initially benefited local farmers and youth. However, large-scale corporations took advantage of the resource boom as new jobs began to be filled by foreign investors rather than by Mozambicans. The corporations were supposedly driven by a small elite within the Frelimo party, which governed Mozambique since 1975. 

On October 5, 2017, al-Shabab insurgents occupied the port of Mocimboa da Praia, the location of significant gas projects, for two days. As the group continues to grow in influence, one militant leader explained, "We occupy [the towns] to show that the government of the day is unfair. It humiliates the poor and gives the profit to the bosses." 

Local delegations also affirmed that "almost everyone spoken to agrees that the war is about multinational corporations gaining control of the province's mineral and gas resources.”

Civil Unrest

In a recent round of demonstrations, al-Shabab forces beheaded village children en masse, according to Save the Children, a U.K.-based organization that provides global humanitarian relief for children. 

One woman, now living in a displacement camp, escaped the militants while her 12-year-old son was beheaded. "When it all started, I was at home with my four children. We tried to escape to the woods but they took my eldest son and beheaded him. We couldn't do anything because we would be killed too," she said. 

Save the Children reports that a total of 670,000 people have been displaced since the beginning of the conflict. Moreover, 2,614 people have died in the conflict, including 1,312 civilians. 

According to Save the Children’s Mozambique director, Chance Briggs, “A major concern for us is that the needs of displaced children and their families in Cabo Delgado far outweigh the resources available to support them. Nearly a million people are facing severe hunger as a direct result of this conflict, including displaced people and host communities.”

Governmental Response

The Mozambican government has attempted to use military force to put down the insurgency. However, a noticeable lack of proper training and waning military resources have drawn out the struggle. 

In past years, the government resorted to hiring mercenaries from Russia and South Africa to aid the struggle. However, on March 2, Amnesty International accused Mozambican army forces and mercenaries of killing massive numbers of civilians during military excursions in the province. 

Reports claim that Russian forces have now withdrawn from Cabo Delgado after suffering multiple defeats at the hands of insurgents. 

This week, American special forces began training with the Mozambican army in a two-month project. Washington also moved to label the insurgency as a global terrorist threat, imposing sanctions on both al-Shabab and its leader, Abu Yasir Hassan.