The Portuguese-language Mozambican news outlet, Folha de Maputo, is reporting that the US Defense Department is "determined" to support Mozambique in its fight against ISIS-affiliated terrorists in the northern part of the country. This comes in the wake of horrific massacres and beheadings of civilians in the Province of Cabo Delgado.
The below article is translated by Fousesquawk.
Pentagon "determined" to support Mozambique in the fight against ISIS
March 30, 2021
The United States is "determined" to support the Mozambican government in combating the insurgents in Cabo Delgado (Province), which are considered connected to the Islamic State/ISIS, the spokesman for the Pentagon, John Kirby, affirmed yesterday.
Maputo- The official of the Department of Defence in Washington reacted to the attack by the insurgents, who the US designates as ISIS-Mozambique (Also known as Ansar al-Sunna) on the town of Palma, which has caused dozens of deaths.
"We continue (to be) determined to cooperate with the government of Mozambique in counter-terrorism and in the fight (against) violent extremism and to defeat ISIS," affirmed Kirby in a statement condemning the attack.
The attacks "demonstrate a total lack of respect for the well-being and security of the local population, who are suffering terribly from the brutal and indiscriminate tactics," he said.
The Islamic State has already claimed responsibility for the attack and control of the town, near the Afungi Peninsula, the epicenter of the Mozambican natural gas works.
Kirby did not explain in what form the Defense Department will be able to help in the specific case of Palma.
In mid-March, the North American Command for Africa (Africom) announced the start of a program of training of special Mozambican troops
A few days previous, the North American Department of State designated ISIS-Mozambique and its leader, Abu Yasir Hassan, as terrorists.
"Since October 2017, ISIS-Mozambique, led by Abu Yasir Hassan, has killed about 1,200 civilians," said the statement of the State Department sent to Lusa (Portuguese news agency).
"It is estimated that more than 2,300 civilians, members of the security forces, and suspected ISIS Mozambique militants, have been killed since the terrorist group began their violent extremist insurgency," it said
ISIS-Mozambique, known locally as al-Shabaab, allegedly swore allegiance to ISIS as early as April 2018 and was recognized by the organization as an affiliate in August 2019.
"The group was responsible for orchestrating a series of sophisticated attacks on a grand scale that resulted in the capture of the strategic port of Mocimboa da Praia, Cabo Delgado Province. The attacks by ISIS-Mozambique also contributed to the displacement of more than 670,000 people in the north of Mozambique," said the State Department.
On Wednesday, Palma, the seat of the district with 42,000 residents, which houses the large gas projects in the north of Mozambique, was attacked by jihadist insurgent groups, who for three and a half years have terrorized the region. The attack was claimed this afternoon by the terrorist group, Islamic State.
Dozens of civilians, including seven persons who tried to flee from the main hotel in Palma, in the north of Mozambique were killed by armed groups who attacked the town. The violence caused more than 2,000 deaths and almost 700,000 dislocated people.
Various countries have offered military support in the terrain of Maputo to combat these insurgents, whose actions have already been claimed by the self-proclaimed Islamic State, but up to this time, there has been no opening for this although there are reports and testimony that point to the existence of security companies and mercenaries in the zone.
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