US targets Mozambique's 'Al-Shabaab'

The United States has pledged to continue supporting the government of Mozambique in a bid to eliminate extremist groups within the northern province of Cabo Delgado which has been the epicenter of turmoil for the last five years as terrorists try to push for an Islamic state.

Dafna Rand, the U.S. State Department's director of the office of foreign assistance said Washington will work with World Bank to help build schools and hospitals in the country following chaos in the oil-rich province, adding that there is a need for locals to embrace education.

She said Washington also is trying to bolster the military to better defend vulnerable communities. The group fighting in the province is known as Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jama [ASWJ] but locally, people refer to it as Al-Shabaab but interestingly, there is no evidence if the group is related to Somalia's Al-Shabaab or the moderate Sufi group ASWJ.

“One area here is to ensure that young people do not appeal to radical groups. So, that is very important,” she said. “We also press to have a security partnership with the Mozambican forces, and we are working and training in cooperation on the defense and security side.”

Currently, oil exploration giants Exxon Mobil and Total are among the big international energy companies developing natural gas projects offshore in northern Mozambique. Despite assistance from Rwanda and South Africa, Maputo has struggled to contain the militants.

Humanitarian organizations estimated that the conflict in Cabo Delgado resulted in close to 5,000 casualties, and according to the U.N High Commission for Refugees, UNHCR, about 1 million people have been displaced from their homes since this crisis started in 2017.

According to Rand, addressing terrorism in Mozambique requires multiple measures, including local development programs and building basic infrastructure such as schools and hospitals.

“We are looking at programs that will increase infrastructure,” she said. “We are working with the World Bank to support their efforts to make sure there are schools, hospitals and that local governments have basic things like identity papers and that they are functioning. That is the top priority for us right now.”

The US has been assisting most parts of Africa to fight violent extremism with Mozambique, Somalia, Niger, and Nigeria leading but the continent looks unsettled as Al-Qaida and ISIL make inroads in a number of countries. The US has consistently invested in fighting ideological extremists across the world.

GAROWE ONLINE