Cabo Ligado Weekly: 27 June-3 July 2022

July 5, 2022 Cabo Ligado

Total number of organized political violence events: 1,331
Total number of reported fatalities from organized political violence: 4,112
Total number of reported fatalities from organized violence targeting civilians: 1,778

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Situation Summary

Insurgent violence continued its trend of targeting unprotected, geographically disparate communities across a broad front of the Cabo Delgado region last week, albeit at a somewhat slower pace. Attacks have been confirmed in Ancuabe, Quissanga, Nangade, and Meluco districts. The threat of insurgent attack has raised tensions to the point that security forces in Mocímboa da Praia opened fire on two civilians, killing one, for violating curfew restrictions.

On 26 June, insurgents attacked the village of Mihecane in Ancuabe for the second time in three days, killing at least one man, who was reported to have mental health issues. A security consultant claims that up to three people may have been killed, including a pregnant woman, and several houses burned down, forcing civilians to flee the village. The Rwanda Defence Force is now said to be deployed in the district.

Two days later, the village of Quissanga 2, approximately 60 km west of Quissanga district headquarters, was the scene of an ambush where a minibus and a Toyota Canter were shot at. Local reports suggest at least one passenger was killed and the driver of one of the vehicles was wounded in the foot. Some believe the military may be behind the attack as soldiers were allegedly seen drinking alcohol in the vicinity of the attack that morning. Islamic State (IS) social media, however, claimed credit for attacking a village called Quissanga that day, although the statement does not mention ambushing any vehicles. Instead, it claims fighters entered the village, burned several houses, and withdrew.

Bilibiza town in Quissanga, which was overrun by insurgents in 2020, has become a reception area for displaced people fleeing recent insurgent attacks across the district, as well as Metuge and Ancuabe.

The insurgents’ strategy in recent weeks has generally been to avoid direct confrontations with security forces, but on 28 June a group of fighters launched a surprise assault on a Mozambique Defense Armed Forces (FADM) position in Mandimba in Nangade, killing the commander and wounding up to five other soldiers, according to a local source and a security consultant. The attack reportedly began at around 4 pm and continued until about 7 pm.

IS claimed credit for killing one soldier and wounding “several others” as well as burning down buildings and seizing weapons and ammunition. On 3 July, IS social media channels released a photo report showing ammunition, explosives, and other military equipment captured from Mandimba.

According to a local source, the Southern African Development Community Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) knew the location of the insurgents and requested helicopter support from the command center in Mueda but did not receive a response — unsurprisingly, given the limited nature of the air assets available to SAMIM or their Mozambican or Rwandan allies.

Meluco also suffered an insurgent attack in Iba village, approximately 40 km east of district headquarters. Few details have emerged so far but gunshots were heard in the village on 2 July. The attack was later claimed by IS.

Weekly Focus: Mocímboa da Praia Shootings Highlight Uneasy Resettlement Process

Severe restrictions on freedom of movement have been imposed on Mocímboa da Praia due to the fear of insurgent infiltration, and security forces treat anyone violating the curfew as a potential attacker. On 30 June, a civilian was shot dead by Rwandan forces for crossing into another neighborhood at night without permission from the authorities. On 3 July, Mozambican soldiers shot and wounded another civilian in similar circumstances as he tried to move into the Kumota neighborhood from Nandadua. He is now being treated by the Rwandans in Mocímboa da Praia. The two men, both from among the first groups of displaced people to go back to Mocímboa da Praia from the Quitunda resettlement village, were caught crossing from one neighborhood into another at night without authorization and were treated as suspected insurgents. Following the two incidents, Mozambican Defense and Security Forces (FDS) stressed to the local population that they should not risk their lives by attempting to move around parts of the town where they are not permitted.

The fact that such severe restrictions on movement are in place, and that those restrictions are lethally enforced, demonstrates that there is still much anxiety about the threat of insurgent attacks, even as authorities are at pains to assure civilians that it is safe to return. This anxiety is not unfounded. On 25 June, insurgents ambushed a minibus just 10 km north of Mocímboa da Praia, killing the driver and injuring a number of passengers. The civilian return program has been suspended ever since.

The restrictions also raise questions about the quality of life that displaced people are returning to. Farming has effectively been prohibited and public services, such as health and education, are virtually non-existent, according to a humanitarian source active in the area. The beach is open for fishing but this cannot support the whole population.

The first group of returnees was made up of the heads of households selected to go in the first wave, who went first to check on the conditions of their property and possible resumption of agriculture activity. They receive an emergency kit. They are then encouraged to bring the families and get a food package for a three-month period.

Opinion among the displaced community appears to be divided on the question of return. Local sources report that despite the restrictions and the security threat, many oppose the suspension of resettlement because conditions in the displacement camps are so intolerable. It is even said that there is little sympathy for the men who were shot as they willfully broke the rules knowing the risks.

Others are more apprehensive about the prospect of living under such tight constraints, especially when those constraints are enforced by the FDS who are largely blamed for abandoning Mocímboa da Praia to the insurgents in the first place. They also have a fearsome reputation for arbitrary violence against civilians, which the recent shooting has surely not helped to dispel.

The civilian resettlement will likely resume soon, and despite the general state of unease, the promise of food support for returning families is an enticing incentive. There are 400 families in Quitunda that still need to be moved and authorities are determined to press ahead, especially as TotalEnergies has said that a restoration of normality in Palma and Mocímboa da Praia, and in the province more broadly, is a prerequisite for work to restart on the Afungi gas project. In any case, the real challenge is not simply returning the population to Mocímboa da Praia, but making the town a livable place once again.

Government Response

The focus of the Mozambican government's actions over the past week has remained centered on the restoration of normalcy in the district of Ancuabe. Cabo Delgado Governor, Valige Tauabo, who was in the town of Ancuabe on 28 June, promised that conditions would soon be created for the resumption of basic services suspended following the recent attacks. Tauabo did not clarify what conditions or measures would be taken, saying only that an assessment of the situation had already been made and that an action plan was being drawn up. He also urged local residents to remain in Ancuabe, promising that security would be guaranteed by the FDS. The wave of violence in Ancuabe began roughly a month ago and has already resulted in the massive flight of local residents and thousands of displaced people, and the suspension of several public services, including the closure of schools, health centers, and humanitarian assistance programs.

Even with assurances of protection from the governor of Cabo Delgado, increasing numbers of displaced people are seeking to leave the district of Ancuabe. In the neighboring district of Chiure, the local administrator, Oliveira Amimo, said on 27 June that his district had received around 4,000 displaced people from Ancuabe. According to Amimo, displaced people are being referred to the district's accommodation centers already in place.

A report by DW shows several people standing on main roads in Ancuabe desperately searching for transportation to safe destinations. The report also describes the challenges faced by both host communities and displaced people in Muaja. Prior to the attacks in Ancuabe, Muaja had an accommodation center for displaced people. The area had already been demarcated for the construction of houses for some 2,400 displaced families. But most of these families are now gone. Local residents are encountering dilemmas in sheltering the displaced. While on the one hand, the authorities call for vigilance, through the verification of documents of the displaced arriving in Muaja village, on the other hand, the locals see the need to receive and support them, even when they do not carry any sort of documentation. The report featured dramatic accounts from displaced people, with some having seen their villages being completely burned down, and others being forced to walk distances of up to 30 km.

Sources in Nampula report that the displaced people arriving from the districts affected by the conflict in neighboring Cabo Delgado province must present a written document, locally known as a “guia de marcha” from the district where they came from, even if duly identified with identity cards. One source described that two small traders from Macomia on their way to Nampula city were asked to show the “guias” at the administrative post of Lurio. Since they were not carrying the document, they were forced to hand over an amount of 2,000 meticais ($31) each to the police officers in order to continue with their trip. This situation underlines the extreme vulnerability that people fleeing conflict zones are exposed to, and how the conflict is exploited by police and military authorities to engage in corrupt and extortionist practices, in a context where the government, through its Northern Resilience and Integrated Development Strategy (ERDIN), seeks to restore the social contract and trust between the state and the population in the northern region.

The conflict in Cabo Delgado has been devastating when it comes to access to health services. According to the Minister of Health, Armindo Tiago, of the 130 health centers in the province, 31 were completely destroyed as a result of insurgent attacks. The situation is described as critical in the districts of Mocímboa da Praia, Quissanga, Macomia, and Meluco which were left without any access to basic health care. Armindo Tiago said that the country needs external support to restore these services and infrastructure in the areas affected by the conflict. An even bleaker view is presented by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which through its Communications Coordinator in Mozambique, Mariana Camaroti, said that about 80% of the health infrastructure in conflict-affected areas has been damaged, burned, vandalized, and abandoned by health workers due to insecurity. She added that the ICRC has delivered three health centers in Pemba to serve at least 80,000 people, including those displaced by the conflict.

Palma is once again benefiting from banking services after more than a year of interruption following the attack on Palma town on 24 March 2021, with the installation of two ATMs of the Banco Comercial de Investimentos (BCI). According to BCI, the ATMs, the first two installed so far, aim to benefit the populations of the Afungi peninsula region and the community of Quitunda. People resettled in Quitunda need the ATMs to receive their compensation payments from TotalEnergies.

The British cotton company Plexus recently announced that it will be pulling out of Cabo delgado, leaving some 50,000 small cotton farmers who were hoping to sell Plexus their cotton production adrift. The announcement was made by Nick Earlam, the CEO of Plexus, during a meeting at Chatham House. Earlam said that several factors were behind the decision to pull out from Cabo Delgado, referring to the possibility of worsening conflict and the consequent reduced chances of obtaining financing.