Cabo Ligado Update: 27 November-10 December 2023

Dec 13

By the Numbers: Cabo Delgado, Oct. 2017-Dec. 2023 ¹

Figures updated as of 8 December 2023. Political violence includes Battles, Explosions/Remote violence, and Violence against civilians event types. Violence targeting civilians includes Explosions/Remote violence and Violence against civilians event types where civilians are targeted. Fatalities for the two categories thus overlap for certain events. ACLED is a living dataset and figures are subject to change as new information becomes available.

Total number of political violence events: 1,713
Total number of reported fatalities from political violence: 4,802
Total number of reported fatalities from political violence targeting civilians: 2,053

All ACLED data are available for download via the data export tool and curated data files.

Situation Summary

Only one confirmed insurgent attack was reported in the last two weeks, but it proved to be the deadliest recorded event since September this year. On 7 December, Islamic State Mozambique (ISM) launched an assault on a Mozambican Defense and Security Forces (FDS) camp outside Lake Nguri in Muidumbe district, killing at least five soldiers. Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the attack on social media and later posted pictures of the five dead bodies, one of which had been beheaded, and a stockpile of captured weapons and ammunition. IS-affiliated Amaq News Agency also published video footage of the attack, showing a fierce exchange of small arms fire. ISM last attacked a FDS base in August, when they overran a camp in Catupa forest, killing seven.

IS also claimed on 28 November to have targeted a Rwandan Security Forces patrol with an IED between Mbau and Chinda in southern Mocímboa da Praia district on an unspecified date. Insurgents were probably not present when the device was activated, and Cabo Ligado could not confirm if the IED caused any damage or was discovered and disposed of in a controlled explosion. Cabo Ligado understands that IEDs are often planted and armed later. It is possible that IS claims such as these refer to IEDs that have been armed, but it is difficult to confirm the circumstances in which they are detonated. Prior to this, ACLED had recorded 13 such incidents in Cabo Delgado province this year. Five of the incidents were in southern Mocímboa da Praia district.

Outside of insurgency, two incidents of cholera-related rioting were also reported in Cabo Delgado province. In the village of Nacuca, Montepuez district, a rumor that the local authority was spreading cholera sparked a riot on 9 December that killed four community leaders, according to Carta de Moçambique. Misinformation around cholera is rife, with the latest riot following one in Namojelia, Chiure district, on 27 November, which destroyed a local health center, Pinnacle News reported. The head of the Bilibiza resettlement center in Namogelia, who was accused of spreading the disease along with a security guard at the health center, were forced to flee the village to escape the mob, a local source told Cabo Ligado.

Attacks on facilities and staff occurred during previous cholera outbreaks in 1999, 2001, 2009, 2019, and 2020. Research by Carlos Serra points to popular beliefs that elites wish to kill the common people through the mechanisms of cholera prevention. The re-emergence of this phenomenon indicates that the state has much to do to gain the trust of people in the province.

Meanwhile, at the Montepuez Ruby Mine (MRM), there was a violent confrontation between security and illegal artisanal miners, known as garimpeiros, on 6 December. According to a statement by MRM sent to Lusa, 22 garimpeiros reportedly invaded the concession and tried to attack security teams, which included police, who fired weapons in self-defense and injured three miners. However, a local source close to the injured miners reported that they were shot by police without warning. MRM claims that earlier that day, another group of more than 100 garimpeiros invaded the site and attacked security, injuring eight, including one police officer.

Focus: Children’s Perspectives on Return

Save the Children’s report ‘Amplifying the Voice of Returnee* Children’ offers compelling testimony from children on the conditions they face upon return to their places of origin. The report is based on consultations with 60 girls and boys who have returned to Palma and Macomia districts. The report presents children’s serious concerns about their exposure to violence, and sexual harassment and abuse. It highlights the need for increased expenditure on support to livelihoods and social services at a time when the humanitarian response in northern Mozambique is underfunded, and certain to remain so.

The children tell about the violence and sexual abuse experienced by girls, but also boys, in their families, communities, and schools. The report amplifies girls’ testimonies of being forced into sexual relationships and early marriage with men. Men with power, such as traders and members of the armed forces are mentioned, echoing last month’s preliminary findings of the United Nations Special Rapporteur, who also noted the impunity that perpetrators enjoy. Sexual harassment is a constant in girls’ lives as they move about the community, or attend school. Both boys and girls also speak of their experiences of violence in their families, schools, and the wider community.

While children note the benefits of return, such as being in familiar surroundings, return is still challenging when basic social services and economic opportunities remain so poor. Consequently, the report qualifies the terms ‘return’ and ‘returnee’ with an asterisk to indicate that their return is fragile, and not necessarily durable. It is also a reminder that while people may have returned to their areas of origin, they have not all returned to their original communities, or land and property.

The Framework for Durable Solutions for Internally Displaced Persons, prepared by the Inter-Agency Steering Committee, is the standard against which the international humanitarian community assesses the durability of return. This is unlikely to be reached given the significant funding shortfall for the humanitarian response. By 8 December 2023, just 36% of the estimated required funding for 2023 had been received. Humanitarian actors fear that there will be a greater shortfall next year. Brechtje van Lith, Save the Children’s director for Mozambique, describes the situation in the north as a “forgotten crisis,” that is finding it hard to compete for attention with more ongoing crises such as in Ukraine, or the emerging crisis in Palestine.

Round Up

New deputy commander of JTF in Afungi appointed

Ernesto Timóteo Madungue has been appointed as deputy commander of the Joint Task Force, responsible for protecting the LNG site at Afungi in Palma district, Cabo Delgado. Madungue was previously director of order at the police provincial command in Sofala province. The human rights report produced by Jean-Christophe Rufin in May at the request of TotalEnergies called for all direct links between TotalEnergies and the FDS to be cut off. Bernardino Rafael, the commander of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique, revealed on 11 December that the FDS soldiers assigned to Afungi no longer receive a bonus on the condition of respecting human rights. This was originally stipulated under the terms of the JTF which Rufin had highlighted as a risk to TotalEnergies, and suggests there has been a renegotiation.

Nyusi addresses FADM officers

President Filipe Nyusi warned that the FDS must be prepared to fight the insurgency in Cabo Delgado without the support of foreign forces, namely the Rwandans and the SAMIM. During the 24th Coordinating Council of the Mozambican Armed Defense Forces (FADM), Nyusi emphasized the need to make better use of military reservists, who are currently largely “invisible.” He also demanded that the Mozambican Civic Service (a community service alternative to conscription) be used to rebuild Cabo Delgado and areas affected by natural disasters.

During a speech to the FADM sergeants’ school on 6 December, he praised security forces for killing “many terrorists” over the previous fortnight (which Cabo Ligado cannot corroborate), but also urged security forces to welcome those who leave the insurgency and return home.

Strengthening border security in Nangade district

Mozambican and international forces paid close attention to border issues in Nangade district in the past fortnight. On 27 November, leaders of Mozambique’s Defense and Security Forces, the Southern African Development Community Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) and the Tanzania People’s Defence Force (TPDF) visited Chacamba Boda, according to a local source. Located close to the Mandimba base of TPDF, the village has been earmarked for construction of a new border post.

On 5 December, the police held a community liaison meeting in Muia village, between Nangade town and the border with Tanzania. The meeting was led by Khalebe Domingos, the officer commanding Nangade police. Also in attendance were commanding officers from SAMIM and TPDF. The purpose was to improve relations with the community on community and border security issues.

Maintaining security as people return to their places of origin in Nangade will remain a challenge. Those that have returned are requesting regular security patrols, according to a source. Not all have yet returned, though authorities expect the displacement centers of Ntoli, Mualela, Muade, and Ntamba in the south of the district to be emptied in the new year. Those in Muade, who are originally from Namuembe village, refuse to return now, claiming their houses are occupied by troops of the police Rapid Intervention Unit (UIR).

TotalEnergies to set up culinary school in Palma

TotalEnergies will establish a culinary school in Palma under its ‘Pamoja Tunaweza’ development initiative. The school will employ four teachers from Cabo Delgado who were trained at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Brazil. The Palma school is due to be built in the first quarter of 2024 and will train around 50 cooks per year.

Cabo Ligado