Actor Profile | Local Forces: The Communal Militias of Mozambique

Communal militias emerged spontaneously, if sporadically, in Cabo Delgado in 2018, as communities sought to defend themselves against insurgent attacks. Widely referred to as Local Forces, their activity spiked in the second half of 2021 in the wake of the arrival of international intervention forces and the consequent break up of the insurgents into smaller, more mobile groups. Violence involving communal militias has also seen wider diffusion since this time. Between 2018 and 2020, these militias had been involved in violent incidents in just four districts. Since 2021, ACLED records communal militia activity in 10 of the province's 17 districts.

These groups emerged to confront the insurgents and are affiliated in different ways with the state or the ruling party, Frelimo. Nevertheless, their emergence has presented the state with a significant challenge. The breakdown in the province’s already weak governance, brought about by the conflict and lack of popular trust in the Defense and Security Forces (FDS), created a space in which the militias could arise. However, they have not developed to a point where they present a threat to local authorities, and there is no evidence that they have become the instruments of political actors in the province. This is at least partly due to political efforts to control such groups’ actions locally, define their loyalty to the state through high-level rhetoric, and create an enabling framework for them to be subsumed under the military formally as Local Forces. 

This profile uses ACLED data and other sources to examine Local Forces’ origins, growth, and areas of operation in Cabo Delgado province. It concludes with an assessment of their place in the security sector and the wider implications for Mozambique of the recently enacted Local Forces legislative framework.