Dyck Advisory Group

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Dyck Advisory Group (DAG) is a private military company based in Velddrif, South Africa, founded in 2012 by Lionel Dyck, [1] an ex-military colonel [2] who had served in the Rhodesian Security Forces and then the Zimbabwe Defence Forces. He fought as part of the Zimbabwean intervention force that assisted the Mozambican government against RENAMO during the Mozambican Civil War. At the time, he forged good relations in the Mozambican governing party FRELIMO and with later Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Following the Mozambican Civil War, he remained in the country. [3]

DAG provides demining and anti-poaching services to customers around the world. [4] From 2019, DAG became active in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, where they helped to fight a local Islamist insurgency. The company was hired by police chief Bernardino Rafael to help train local policemen and fight the rebels. [3] [5] Its troops operate and charter out several Bat Hawk light aircraft, [6] and have deployed three Aérospatiale Gazelles, two Eurocopter AS350 Écureuils and one Aérospatiale Alouette III in Cabo Delgado. [7]

In 2021, Amnesty International (AI) reported that during operations in Mozambique, DAG's operatives fired machine guns from helicopters and dropped hand grenades indiscriminately into crowds of people, as well as repeatedly firing at civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools and homes. [3] [8]

In the Battle of Palma of March and April 2021, the company assisted the Mozambican military and police forces in combating the attacking insurgents. According to Dyck, his operatives engaged several of the terrorists as well as rescued wounded policemen and trapped civilians. [2] [5] [9] The rescue, conducted in part by the DAF, rescued white contractors before local black civilians, said AI. [10] [11]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Mocímboa da Praia</span>

On June 27, 2020, jihadists from al-Shabaab raided the city of Mocímboa da Praia in the Cabo Delgado Province of Mozambique. Al-Shabaab fighters attacked the city following brutal crackdowns against civilians by the Mozambican government, and in their attacks, destroyed homes and killed more civilians. A Mozambican counteroffensive aided by South African mercenaries of the Dyck Advisory Group renewed fighting in the city, with the mercenaries being criticized for their indiscriminate shooting of civilians.

References

  1. ↑ "DYCK ADVISORY GROUP - K2012198102 - South Africa". b2bhint.com. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  2. 1 2 David McKenzie (30 March 2021). "Leader of mercenary group in Mozambique says that ISIS-linked insurgents hold Palma". CNN. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 Gordon Feller (7 April 2021). "An overview of foreign security involvement in Mozambique". DefenceWeb. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  4. ↑ Hanlon, Joseph (27 July 2020). "Mozambique: Mercenaries to the Fore as Dyck Contract Extended". allAfrica.com. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Cabo Ligado Weekly: 29 March-4 April" (PDF). Cabo Ligado (ACLED, Zitamar News, Mediafax). 6 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  6. ↑ "MOZAMBIQUE/SOUTH AFRICA : Cabo Delgado: Dyck Advisory Group's loses one surveillance aircraft after another - 26/06/2020". Africa Intelligence. 26 June 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  7. ↑ Andrew Harding; Philippe Chapleau (31 March 2021). "Mozambique: le fondateur de Dyck Advisory Group revient sur l'engagement de la SMP". Lignes de défense. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  8. ↑ "Mozambique: Civilians killed as war crimes committed by armed group, government forces and private military contractors – new report". Amnesty International. 2 March 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  9. ↑ Meldrum, Andrew (29 March 2021). "Rebels leave beheaded bodies in streets of Mozambique town". Associated Press. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  10. ↑ "Mozambique: Rescue attempts jeopardized by racial discrimination following Palma attack – new survivors' testimony". Amnesty International. 13 May 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  11. ↑ "White people rescued before Black people in Palma: Amnesty". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 7 September 2021.


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