In May of 2022, Al-Shabab began operating under the name [[Islamic State – Mozambique Province|Islamic State Mozambique Province]] (ISM). Their terrorist attacks continued, but their acts of violence declined compared to the previous year. The EU provided funding and training to Mozambique’s forces.<ref name=”:3″ /> The lack of coordination between the RSF and SAMIM caused Al-Shabab’s forces to spread apart throughout Cabo Delgado by the end of 2022.<ref name=”:2″ />
In May of 2022, Al-Shabab began operating under the name [[Islamic State – Mozambique Province|Islamic State Mozambique Province]] (ISM). Their terrorist attacks continued, but their acts of violence declined compared to the previous year. The EU provided funding and training to Mozambique’s forces.<ref name=”:3″ /> The lack of coordination between the RSF and SAMIM caused Al-Shabab’s forces to spread apart throughout Cabo Delgado by the end of 2022.<ref name=”:2″ />
ISM violence against civilians continued to decrease in 2023. As violence declined, 420,000 of the displaced people returned to their pkace of origin that year, though hundred of thousands remained displaced. ISM attacks, though reduced, still persisted. Some notible terrorist activities include attacking government bases, burning homes and targetting Christians in the village of Naquitengue, and attacking a village in Mapate.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mozambique |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/country-reports-on-terrorism-2023/mozambique/ |access-date=2026-01-21 |website=United States Department of State |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Mozambique Events of 2023 |url=https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2024/country-chapters/mozambique |website=Human Rights Watch}}</ref> In August, the Mozambique’s defense ministry announced that ISM’s leader, Bonomade Machude Omar, had been killed.<ref name=”:4″>{{Cite news |title=Mozambique insurgency leader Omar killed by armed forces, ministry says |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/mozambique-insurgency-leader-omar-killed-by-armed-forces-ministry-2023-08-25/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240217193132/https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/mozambique-insurgency-leader-omar-killed-by-armed-forces-ministry-2023-08-25/ |archive-date=2024-02-17 |access-date=2026-01-21 |work=Reuters |language=en-US}}</ref>
ISM violence against civilians continued to decrease in 2023. As violence declined, 420,000 of the displaced people returned to their pkace of origin that year, though hundred of thousands remained displaced. ISM attacks, though reduced, still persisted. Some notible terrorist activities include attacking government bases, burning homes and targetting Christians in the village of Naquitengue, and attacking a village in Mapate.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mozambique |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/country-reports-on-terrorism-2023/mozambique/ |access-date=2026-01-21 |website=United States Department of State |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Mozambique Events of 2023 |url=https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2024/country-chapters/mozambique |website=Human Rights Watch}}</ref> In August, the Mozambique’s defense ministry announced that ISM’s leader, Bonomade Machude Omar, had been killed.<ref name=”:4″>{{Cite news |title=Mozambique insurgency leader Omar killed by armed forces, ministry says |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/mozambique-insurgency-leader-omar-killed-by-armed-forces-ministry-2023-08-25/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240217193132/https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/mozambique-insurgency-leader-omar-killed-by-armed-forces-ministry-2023-08-25/ |archive-date=2024-02-17 |access-date=2026-01-21 |work=Reuters |language=en-US}}</ref>
Violence greatly rose in early 2014. Jihadists in the eastern [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]] began moving into Cabo Delgado and vice versa, interconnecting their forces. Congolese jihadists also spread the practice of gaining funds through kidnapping and smuggling drugs and weapons.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mozambique: Jihadists from abroad pour into Cabo Delgado |url=https://www.dw.com/en/mozambique-jihadists-from-abroad-pour-into-cabo-delgado/a-68623366 |access-date=2026-01-21 |website=dw.com |language=en}}</ref> Displacement of citizens increased in 2024 as two cyclones along with the ongoing violence displaced 700,000 people. Humanitarian aid dropped, leading to heightened food insecurity and malnutrition.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is happening in Mozambique? |url=https://www.nrc.no/perspectives/2025/what-is-happening-in-mozambique |access-date=2026-01-21 |website=NRC |language=en}}</ref>
Violence greatly rose in early . Jihadists in the eastern [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]] began moving into Cabo Delgado and vice versa, interconnecting their forces. Congolese jihadists also spread the practice of gaining funds through kidnapping and smuggling drugs and weapons.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mozambique: Jihadists from abroad pour into Cabo Delgado |url=https://www.dw.com/en/mozambique-jihadists-from-abroad-pour-into-cabo-delgado/a-68623366 |access-date=2026-01-21 |website=dw.com |language=en}}</ref> Displacement of citizens increased in 2024 as two cyclones along with the ongoing violence displaced 700,000 people. Humanitarian aid dropped, leading to heightened food insecurity and malnutrition.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is happening in Mozambique? |url=https://www.nrc.no/perspectives/2025/what-is-happening-in-mozambique |access-date=2026-01-21 |website=NRC |language=en}}</ref>
==Constitution==
==Constitution==
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A decade before the jihadist insurgency, local muslim religious leaders noticed an unusual type of Islam springing up in Mocimboa da Praia District of the Cabo Delgado province. The group consisted of discontent young men who drank alcohol and attended mosques in shorts and shoes. They created the Ansaru-Sunna, built mosques, and practiced a harsher form of Islam. Suggested contributing factors to the later insurgency include expulsion of ruby miners in Montepuez and the lack of promised jobs following major developments of the Cabo Delgado’s gas industry.[1]
In October 2017, jihadist insurgents began occupying the central Mocimboa da Praia District. They attacked police, stole weapons, looted and freed prisoners. They called for Mozambicans to take up arms against moral corruption. The insurgents, called Al-Shabab, confronted local Islamic religious groups and trained while hiding in the bush.[2][3]
In 2018, they attacked several areas in the north, especially Palma, Mocimboa da Praia and Nangade. Insurgency persisted even after Palma was shelled by helicopter. Al-Shabab stole military weapons, raided villages for food, killed local authorities, and displaced residents. The group became linked with ISIS in 2019 after a social media video showed insurgents swearing their alliance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi; Al-Shabab fell under the leadership of Islamic State Central Africa Province.[2] In late 2019, IS Somalia began providing support through military training and providing funds the following year.[4]
Violence greatly increased in 2020. Attacks moved from remote to urban villages. That year, 570 violent incidents occured including kidnapping and killing, sometimes by beheading. 670,000 people in the northern provinces of Cabo Delgado, Niassa and Nampula were displaced that year as a result of the violent environment. Insurgents took over the town of Mocimboa da Praia within the district of the same name. They threatened the Palma’s liquid gas project twice. The United States and Portugal assisted Mozambique’s forces by providing military training.[3][5][4]
According to a Amnesty International report, war crimes were committed both by Al-Shabab and defending forces. Dyck Advisory Group, a private South African militia, fought insurgents alongside government forces. The military, Dyck, and the insurgents killed hundreds of civilians according to an Amnesty International report. Some of the reported war crimes include the following: Dyck attacked crowds and fired into civilian infrastructure such as hospitals, houses and schools; Al-Shbaab burned down communities and kidnapped children for the purpose of marriage or rape of abducted girls, or to turn into soldiers for abducted boys; government forces (both police and military) enacted torture and extrajudicial executions on suspected insurgents, as well as adbucted women to a nearby base where they were detained, beaten, and killed more than the men held there.[6]
In 2021, Al-Shabab attacked Palma, putting the natural gas project in jeopardy.[4] Following the attack, the French company TotalEnergies had to declare force majeure, a clause that a legal agreement cannot be fulfilled due to extreme circumstances such as war.[7][8] Rwanda Security Forces (RSF) deployed into Mozambique in 2021 to fight the insurgency; they gained control of the district headquarters in Palma and Mocimboa da Praia in August. The same year, Southern African Development Community Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) deployed in the districts of Nangade, Macomia, Mueda, and Muidumbe districts to fight against the insurgents.[4] The Mozambican military, RSF and SAMIM begain reclaiming key territory from the isurgents.[9]
In May of 2022, Al-Shabab began operating under the name Islamic State Mozambique Province (ISM). Their terrorist attacks continued, but their acts of violence declined compared to the previous year. The EU provided funding and training to Mozambique’s forces.[9] The lack of coordination between the RSF and SAMIM caused Al-Shabab’s forces to spread apart throughout Cabo Delgado by the end of 2022.[4]
ISM violence against civilians continued to decrease in 2023. As violence declined, 420,000 of the displaced people returned to their pkace of origin that year, though hundred of thousands remained displaced. ISM attacks, though reduced, still persisted. Some notible terrorist activities include attacking government bases, burning homes and targetting Christians in the village of Naquitengue, and attacking a village in Mapate.[10][11] In August, the Mozambique’s defense ministry announced that ISM’s leader, Bonomade Machude Omar, had been killed.[7] In December, SAMIM decided to withdrawal from Mozambique; the withdrawal would begin in April.[12]
Violence greatly rose in early 2024. Jihadists in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo began moving into Cabo Delgado and vice versa, interconnecting their forces. Congolese jihadists also spread the practice of gaining funds through kidnapping and smuggling drugs and weapons.[13] Displacement of citizens increased in 2024 as two cyclones along with the ongoing violence displaced 700,000 people. Humanitarian aid dropped, leading to heightened food insecurity and malnutrition.[14]
