• Total number of organized political violence events: 1,200

• Total number of reported fatalities from organized political violence: 3,871

• Total number of reported fatalities from organized violence targeting civilians: 1,686

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Situation Summary

Last week saw renewed insurgent activity with attacks across the districts of Ibo, Nangade, Macomia, and Mueda. The worst violence was on Matemo island, part of Ibo district, where militants engaged in fierce fighting with security forces for several days leading to a reported total of at least 17 deaths across both sides, including the decapitation of several government soldiers.

Approximately 20 insurgents landed on Matemo on Tuesday night, wearing Mozambican Defense and Security Forces (FDS) military fatigues, and initially claimed they were there to defend the island before they began burning homes and looting food. A source living in Pemba reported speaking to a militant on the island via a relative’s phone and was told that civilian hostages had been taken.

According to a source on the island, the insurgents looted all the flour and rice before splitting into two groups, with one leaving the island carrying the stolen goods in eight boats while the others stayed behind. Government forces began arriving by boat and helicopter at about 4 am, three hours after the attack began. A fierce battle ensued, with Islamic State (IS) claiming on social media to have killed seven government soldiers and the FDS claiming to have killed at least 10 insurgents. 

The government claims have not been independently verified but IS social media channels published gruesome images of several beheaded soldiers whose military issue boots suggest they were members of the FDS. The latest report from Brito Simango, a reporter for state television station TVM, claims 20 insurgents have been killed in the fighting, and just four members of the FDS — apparently contradicting the photographic evidence.

The fighting continued for three days between militants and special forces, supported by helicopters and local militia. On Thursday, a source reported that there were about five insurgents left on the island, who had blended in with the population. Consequently, the island is locked down for at least the next two weeks to prevent the militants from escaping.

This is the second time in two months that Matemo has been attacked by insurgents. On 1 February, a group of militants commandeered several boats and assaulted the island, burning down many homes and buildings, including the local hospital, before escaping with loot.  

An insurgent attack also took place on Sunday 20 March in the village of Naida in Mueda district — across the Ruvuma River from the town of Newala in Tanzania — killing at least one person.

In Xinavane 2, just outside Macomia town, on Tuesday 15 March, two young men were beheaded. Relatives said they were last seen going to work in the fields and they believe FDS forces were responsible.

In Nangade, insurgents continue to threaten civilian lives, despite security forces claiming to have destroyed militant bases in the district. On Friday 18 March, insurgents beheaded two people in Litingina before clashing with police officers from the Rapid Intervention Unit (UIR). The insurgents are said to have been displaced from their base in Machava, which was assaulted by security forces on or around 8 March, killing all or most of the insurgents present. A source put the number of dead at more than 30. The fighters who clashed with the UIR were away when the attack took place and they are now at large. 

Recent violence has not been restricted to Cabo Delgado. In Niassa, on Sunday 13 March, a truck was robbed on a stretch of road between Mecula and Marrupa, in an area known as Amadeu. Masked men carrying weapons seriously injured several people before fleeing with money and other stolen goods. The incident is believed by police to be a case of criminality, and not related to the insurgency.

In Tanzania, four men have been arrested and charged in connection with the spate of motorcycle taxi thefts, and murder of their drivers, that took place at Hiyari village, approximately 20km west of Mtwara town over January and February. Acting Regional Police Commander Nicodemus Katembo announced on 18 March that three men from the area have been charged with the killings and thefts. They were arrested in Tunduru district, in Ruvuma region, which borders Mecula district in Niassa province. A fourth, from Newala district, has been arrested and admitted receiving four of the motorcycles, and selling them into Mozambique. Newala is a border district in Mtwara region, facing Mueda district in Cabo Delgado province. 

Weekly Focus: Matemo Attack

The attack on Matemo island, which has reportedly claimed between 17 and 24 lives, is one of the most significant clashes between insurgents and security forces in recent months. 

Although there are military positions on Matemo, sources report that there was no military presence on the island when the insurgent raid began, despite Matemo having previously come under attack on 1 February. Militants likely seized this opportunity to attack knowing the island would again be undefended. However, security forces were quick to respond. Insurgents began setting fire to homes at approximately 1 am on Wednesday, and at 3:50 am, military boats were spotted speeding towards the island. Just after 4:30 am, helicopters arrived at Matemo.

The precise death toll is difficult to determine as both sides claim to have inflicted substantial losses on the other. IS was the first to declare victory when, on Thursday 17 March, a bulletin appeared on IS social media channels claiming to have killed seven soldiers from the FDS and local militia, and wounded several more. This was substantiated with photos of several dead soldiers in FDS uniform, then later photos of them having been beheaded.

Later that day, Ernesto Maungue, spokesperson for the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM), responded with the claim that government forces had killed 10 insurgents and captured military equipment. On 21 March, sources reported conflicting casualty figures, with some claiming six government soldiers and 10 militants had been killed, while others said that it was eight soldiers and 11 militants.

Late on 21 March, Mozambican state TV reported that 20 insurgents had been killed by a combined force of FDS and Southern African Development Community (SADC) soldiers who sustained only four losses. Photographs emerged on Telegram channels of five dead bodies alleged to be insurgents.  

A source on Matemo said the island will be sealed off for the next two weeks while security forces try to locate the remaining militants who have tried to hide among the general population. Cabo Ligado sources heard that a group of insurgents split from the rest to carry stolen goods back to the mainland in eight boats. As a result of the looting of flour and rice stores, the food situation on the island is becoming increasingly desperate. It is not known how many civilian casualties, if any, resulted directly from the fighting, but two sick people have reportedly died of hunger.

The insurgents who escaped the island were allegedly pursued by the FDS to the coastal area of Crimize on the mainland but it is not known if they managed to evade the security forces or were killed.

Although the insurgent attack appears to have been mostly quelled, the fact that security forces left the island open to invasion on two occasions in less than two months reveals that security forces are often still too stretched to actively provide protection to vulnerable civilians. This latest incident is a setback to the government as it tries to encourage displaced families to return home. Matemo is home to at least 1,000 of these families displaced by the conflict in Cabo Delgado.

Despite its proximity to the district of Macomia, Matemo island is outside the area of responsibility of foreign troops from Rwanda and SADC. This intervention is one of the few occasions in which SADC troops have left their area of responsibility to support Mozambican troops. Besides Ibo, Quissanga is another district affected by the insurgency where foreign forces do not operate.

Matemo island is one of the few habitable places along the coast to the north of Cabo Delgado province. The closest places with the presence of civilians were the areas between Quiterajo and Mucojo in Macomia. But due to the presence of insurgents there, authorities have imposed a ban on civilians moving in these areas after several reports of civilians being killed and kidnapped. 

Government Response 

In an interview with Rwandan media, Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) Spokesperson Col. Ronald Rwivanga expressed confidence that security had been consolidated in Rwandan areas of responsibility (AOR), and that ongoing issues of insecurity elsewhere in Cabo Delgado were outside of their operational jurisdiction, i.e. SADC's Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) areas, and they would only get operationally involved if authorized to do so. Rwivanga insisted the RDF was working closely with SAMIM, sharing intelligence and operational leads, but was not physically involved in joint operations as reportedly claimed by SAMIM Deputy Commander Dumisani Ndzinge, in a YouTube video that has since been removed. The interview also confirmed that planned RDF training of Mozambican forces was also still in the planning stages. This should be distinguished from the Rwandan police training program outlined by the PRM General Commander, Bernadino Rafael, in November 2021.

Since the arrival of Rwandan and SADC troops in Cabo Delgado last year, at least 80 alleged insurgents have been arrested and are being held in different prisons around the country, sharing cells with other detainees accused of committing various non-terrorism-related crimes. Adriano Nuvunga, Chairman of the Network of Human Rights Defenders of Mozambique (RMDDH), an umbrella organization of civil society organizations in Mozambique, warned of a high risk of recruitment, radicalization, and dissemination of messages linked to violent extremism inside detention facilities. He called for the creation of special spaces to accommodate those accused of terrorism and violent extremism, because in addition to the risk of dissemination of extremist propaganda, these crimes concern national security, and thus should deserve special treatment, he said.

But Isac Chand, Mozambique's Justice Ombudsman disagreed. For Chand, the priority is that the justice sector should function and that the country should organize itself to judge these types of cases. Throughout the history of the conflict in northern Mozambique, several suspected members of the insurgent network have been released, due to lack of evidence. A judge in Cabo Delgado, Geraldo Patrício, said in 2020 he had tried at least 370 people accused of terrorism from 2017 to 2020, having acquitted at least 131 of these, and claimed that the lack of a legal framework makes it difficult to handle terrorism-related cases. 

The President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, made a three-day visit to Mozambique where he addressed extensively the conflict in Cabo Delgado province. During his visit, the Portuguese president began by giving assurances of continued support from Portugal and the European Union to the government of Mozambique's counterinsurgency efforts through the European Union Training Mission (EUTM) in Mozambique, a two-year training program launched in October 2021. The EUMT began preliminary implementation in November 2021, and aims "to support a more efficient and effective response by the Mozambican armed forces to the crisis in Cabo Delgado province." Rebelo de Sousa spoke of the need to complement training and human capacity with the provision of military equipment to Mozambique forces, and said that such support would be forthcoming. The Portuguese president visited two training units, one in Maputo and the other in Manica. In Manica, he announced that a set of special forces trained under the EUTM in that province will leave for the theater of operations in Cabo Delgado province. This means there will now be the opportunity to assess how effective the training has been, including human rights provisions. Over his three-day visit, Rebelo de Sousa said that it is not easy to define the end of “terrorism” in Cabo Delgado, but for that to happen "it is necessary that populations settle, have economic and social infrastructure, and that the normalization of life and security are lasting." 

Difficult days are approaching for the displaced populations of Cabo Delgado. The provincial secretary of state announced in a letter that the World Food Program will temporarily halve the ration of food aid to displaced populations. He appealed in his letter for district governments to urge their populations to be self-sufficient and engage in agricultural production. But without land, inputs, and equipment, these populations will not be able to be self-sufficient, which will further increase hunger and vulnerability, and cause many of them to return to their areas of origin that are still not secure. 

Also through a letter that was made public, the Provincial Direction of Transport and Communications of Cabo Delgado province announced that as of 17 March 2022, the circulation of passenger transport has resumed via Macomia, duly escorted, to Mucojo and Quiterajo in the district of Macomia, and the districts of Mueda, Mocímboa da Praia, Palma, Nangade, and Muidumbe. The N380 road that connects Macomia to the northern districts has already been the target of several attacks and ambushes by insurgents, which forced the closure of the road in 2019. The road was initially closed in December 2018 after the bridge over the Muera river collapsed. The bridge repair was completed in 2019, but the road remained closed due to insecurity caused by insurgent attacks. Thus, the connections between the districts to the south and north of Cabo Delgado were made through the R698 dirt road, which connects the districts of Montepuez and Mueda. Although the announcement has been made, in practice, there is no report that vehicle escorts have started operating on the said stretch.

The United States government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), announced that it will support the construction and improvement of roads and bridges in Cabo Delgado. One of the roads that will benefit from improvement is the R698 road that connects the districts of Montepuez and Mueda, to facilitate the movement of people and goods. The money will go to Mozambique's National Road Administration. USAID is investing about $2.3 million to improve key infrastructure in northern Mozambique. 

Cyclone Gombe, which has been affecting northern and central Mozambique since 11 March, has further aggravated the situation of displaced persons staying in the Corrane internally displaced persons (IDP) center in Meconta district in Nampula province. According to an assessment by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Cyclone Gombe destroyed the main tents used to provide health services, as well as medicines and medical equipment. The makeshift shelters were also not spared by the cyclone's fury, with some 1,600 shelters affected. To add to the food crisis, the displaced people’s agricultural production has also been significantly impacted.

Correction: The name of Muera river was misspelled in an earlier version of this report. We regret the error. The text has also also been updated to clarify that insurgents reportedly beheaded two people in Litingina before clashing with police on 18 March.

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