2020 Mozambique attacks

Last updated
2020 Mozambique attacks
Part of the insurgency in Cabo Delgado
Cabo Delgado in Mozambique.svg
Location of Cabo Delgado Province in Mozambique
Location Mozambique
Date7 April and 9 November 2020
Attack type
Massacres, kidnapping, arson
Deaths102
PerpetratorsAQMI Flag asymmetric.svg  Islamic State

The 2020 Mozambique attacks included multiple attacks launched by insurgents of Islamic State's Central Africa Province and other groups. The attacks left at least 102 people dead.

Contents

Attacks

7 April 2020 - Mozambique police say 52 male villagers were killed by Islamist militants. [1] The attack occurred in Xitaxi, Muidumbe District, Cabo Delgado Province, after they refused to join their ranks. [2]

9 November 2020 - Militant Islamists behead at least 50 people in several villages in Cabo Delgado Province. In addition, the insurgents burned homes and kidnapped women during their raids. [3] United Nations Secretary General António Guterres expressed his shock and condemned the "wanton brutality" of the massacres. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cabo Delgado Province</span> Province of Mozambique

Cabo Delgado is the northernmost province of Mozambique. It has an area of 82,625 km2 (31,902 sq mi) and a population of 2,320,261 (2017). As well as bordering Mtwara Region in the neighboring country of Tanzania, it borders the provinces of Nampula and Niassa. The region is an ethnic stronghold of the Makonde tribe, with the Makua and Mwani as leading ethnic minorities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palma, Mozambique</span> Town in Mozambique

Palma is a town on the northeast coast of Mozambique's Cabo Delgado Province. Less than 32 kilometres (20 mi) away is the border with Mtwara Region of Tanzania to the north and north-west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mocímboa da Praia</span> Place in Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique

Mocímboa da Praia is a port town in northern Mozambique, lying on the Indian Ocean coast, in Cabo Delgado Province. It is used as a border post for travel to and from Tanzania even though it is 127 km from the border by road. It is the seat of Mocímboa da Praia District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present)</span> Sunni Islamic insurgency in the Maghreb

An Islamist insurgency is taking place in the Maghreb region of North Africa, followed on from the end of the Algerian Civil War in 2002. The Algerian militant group Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) allied itself with al-Qaeda to eventually become al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The Algerian and other Maghreb governments fighting the militants have worked with the United States and the United Kingdom since 2007, when Operation Enduring Freedom – Trans Sahara began.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sinai insurgency</span> Defunct insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula

The Sinai insurgency was an insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, that was commenced by Islamist militants against Egyptian security forces, which have also included attacks on civilians. The insurgency began during the Egyptian Crisis, during which the longtime Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in the 2011 Egyptian revolution.

Timeline of the Boko Haram insurgency is the chronology of the Boko Haram insurgency, an ongoing armed conflict between Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram and the Nigerian government. Boko Haram have carried out many attacks against the military, police and civilians since 2009, mostly in Nigeria. The low-intensity conflict is centred on Borno State. It peaked in the mid 2010s, when Boko Haram extended their insurgency into Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allied Democratic Forces insurgency</span> Islamist insurgency in the DR Congo and Uganda

The Allied Democratic Forces insurgency is an ongoing conflict waged by the Allied Democratic Forces in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, against the governments of those two countries and the MONUSCO. The insurgency began in 1996, intensifying in 2013, resulting in hundreds of deaths. The ADF is known to currently control a number of hidden camps which are home to about 2,000 people; in these camps, the ADF operates as a proto-state with "an internal security service, a prison, health clinics, and an orphanage" as well as schools for boys and girls.

This article lists a chronology of events in the South Thailand insurgency from the 1960s. Most take place in the Muslim-majority, contested provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, and Yala in the far south of Thailand bordering Muslim Malaysia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insurgency in Cabo Delgado</span> Armed conflict in Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique

The insurgency in Cabo Delgado is an ongoing Islamist insurgency in Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique, mainly fought between militant Islamists and jihadists attempting to establish an Islamic state in the region, and Mozambican security forces. Civilians have been the main targets of terrorist attacks by Islamist militants. The main insurgent faction is Ansar al-Sunna, a native extremist faction with tenuous international connections. From mid-2018, the Islamic State's Central Africa Province has allegedly become active in northern Mozambique as well, and claimed its first attack against Mozambican security forces in June 2019. In addition, bandits have exploited the rebellion to carry out raids. As of 2020, the insurgency intensified, as in the first half of 2020 there were nearly as many attacks carried out as in the whole of 2019.

Dyck Advisory Group is a private military company based in Velddrif, South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al-Shabaab (Mozambique)</span> Islamist militant group active in Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique

Al-Shabaab, also known as Ansar al-Sunna or Ahlu Sunna Wal Jammah, is an Islamist militant group active in Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique. Since October 2017, it has waged an insurgency in the region, seeking to undermine the secular FRELIMO government and establish an Islamic state. It has occasionally captured territory from the government and has been accused of committing atrocities against civilians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic State – Central Africa Province</span> Central African branch of the Islamic State

The Central Africa Province is an administrative division of the Islamic State (IS), a Salafi jihadist militant group and unrecognised quasi-state. As a result of a lack of information, the foundation date and territorial extent of the Central Africa Province are difficult to gauge, while the military strength and activities of the province's affiliates are disputed. The Central Africa Province initially covered all IS activities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mozambique. In September 2020, during the insurgency in Cabo Delgado, IS-CAP shifted its strategy from raiding to actually occupying territory, and declared the Mozambican town of Mocímboa da Praia its capital. After this point, however, the Mozambican branch declined and was split off from IS-CAP in 2022, becoming a separate IS province.

This article lists events from the year 2020 in Mozambique.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jihadist insurgency in Niger</span> Civil conflict in Niger

Since 2015, the border area between Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger has been a hotbed for jihadist forces originating from Mali. The insurgency has taken place in two distinct regions of Niger. In southwest, the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara and the Nusrat al-Islam have carried out attacks in the tri-border area with Burkina Faso and Mali. Meanwhile, in the southeast, the Islamic State in the West African Province has established control in parts of southern Niger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Palma</span> Battle for the control of Palma in Mozambique

The Battle of Palma or the Battle for Palma was fought during late March and early April 2021 over control of the city of Palma in Mozambique, between the Mozambique Defence Armed Forces, other Mozambican security forces and private military contractors on one side, and Islamist rebels reportedly associated with the Islamic State (IS) on another side. The Islamists invaded the city, killing dozens of people before Mozambique regained control days later. Palma was left destroyed, and a major oil and gas company decided to suspend all operations in the area due to the battle. Researchers have described the battle as an overall success for the insurgents. The rebels also maintained their presence in the town's surroundings, and continued to raid Palma in the following weeks. The battle was part of the insurgency in Cabo Delgado, which started in 2017 and has resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, mainly local civilians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamist insurgency in the Sahel</span> Insurgency throughout the Sahel and West Africa

An Islamist insurgency has been ongoing in the Sahel region of West Africa since the 2011 Arab Spring. In particular, the intensive conflict in the three countries of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso has been referred to as the Sahel War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Mucojo</span> Military engagement

The Battle of Mucojo was a military engagement between unidentified anti-Islamist militants, Islamic State affiliates, and the Mozambique Defence Armed Forces in the coastal town of Mucojo during the Insurgency in Cabo Delgado. It started on 22 April 2021 when anti-Islamist militants took control of Mucojo and nearby villages including Lumumua. The militants started a killing spree near Mucojo after the Mozambique Army retook many villages near Mucojo.

On April 7, 2020, jihadists from Islamic State – Central Africa Province in Mozambique killed at least fifty-two young civilians in Xitaxi, Muidumbe District, Mozambique after the young men of the village refused to join the group. The massacre was one of the deadliest massacres perpetrated by Mozambique's cell of the Islamic State.

References

  1. "Villagers 'massacred' by Mozambique Islamists". BBC News . 22 April 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  2. "Islamist insurgents kill 52 villagers in Mozambique, police say". Reuters . 22 April 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  3. "Militant Islamists 'behead more than 50' in Mozambique". BBC News. 9 November 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  4. "Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General on Mozambique". United Nations Secretary-General. 2020-11-10. Retrieved 2020-12-10.