How an insurgency threatens Mozambique’s gas bonanza

By Agencies

It began when 30 armed men attacked three police stations in the port of Mocimboa da Praia in October 2017, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. That followed the arrest of local conservative religious leaders for allegedly inciting civil disobedience. The UN office said the violence “seems to be rooted in the radicalization of marginalized youth,” who “rejected poverty and social exclusion and started to reject traditional forms of Islam.” After the rebels aligned with Islamic State, the larger group implicitly threatened to target the gas installations. The sophistication, scale and frequency of incursions increased in 2020, with the attackers using rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons seized from the military. While violence abated during the rainy season at the start of 2021, it escalated in March when at least 100 militants attacked Palma, less than 8 kilometers (5 miles) from a site being developed by France’s Total SE, killing dozens.

How an insurgency threatens Mozambique’s gas bonanza

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