NAIROBI, Kenya – U.S. special forces have this week trained Mozambican troops as part of an effort to ward off a widespread insurgency in northeastern Mozambique linked to the Islamic State, according to U.S. officials. The uprising, close to some of the world’s largest gas reserves, killed at least 2,000 civilians and displaced another 670,000.
The U.S. program is modest in scope and scope: a dozen Army Green Berets must train Mozambican marines for the next two months. But it points to the US military’s entry into a counter-insurgency effort that has so far been aided mainly by South African mercenaries, which has faced accusations of human rights violations.
The war in Mozambique is part of a disturbing expansion of insurgency that is believed to have ties to the Islamic State in various parts of Africa. In recent years, militant streets in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, including a port on the Indian Ocean, have taken over and beheaded hundreds of civilians, according to human rights groups.
“I don’t think anyone saw it coming,” Col said. Richard Schmidt, the deputy commander of the US Special Operations Forces in Africa, said in a telephone interview with Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. “It’s so fast to get up so fast.”
Last week, the United States formally designated the group, known locally as Al-Sunna wa Jama’a, as a global terrorist entity and imposed sanctions on the leader, named by U.S. officials as Abu Yasir Hassan.
But it is unclear how strong the ties are between the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and this group, as well as some others in Africa.
The uprising in Mozambique includes a few fighters from Tanzania, but most come from the local area, a place of deep poverty and endemic corruption. The most important publications of the Islamic State have not mentioned the activities in Mozambique since last autumn.
Some experts are concerned that the US designation of the group as linked to the Islamic State could hamper future efforts to end the uprising through negotiations.
“There are concerns that this designation could complicate the delivery of humanitarian aid in Cabo Delgado and the possible dialogue with insurgents there,” said Dino Mahtani, deputy director of the Africa Program at the International Crisis Group, who recently visited Mozambique.
The ferocity of the uprising in Cabo Delgado, the northernmost province of Mozambique, nevertheless surprised US military officers, diplomats and officials against terrorism.
A group that numbered perhaps a few dozen fighters in 2017 has grown to as many as 800 fighters, with the ability to carry out strikes in neighboring Tanzania, where analysts believe the group is linked to smuggling and criminal networks which provides weapons and other equipment. .
Mozambican counter-insurgency efforts were hampered by divisions between the country’s army and its powerful police, and so he turned to private soldiers for help.
In 2019, about 160 contractors from Wagner Group, a private military company in the Kremlin, will fly to Cabo Delgado. But they quickly withdrew after at least seven Wagner personnel were killed by insurgents, U.S. officials said.
After that, Mozambique turned to mercenaries from South Africa, specifically the Dyck Advisory Group, which is equipped with small helicopters armed with rifles.
But Amnesty International has recently accused mercenaries of possible war crimes, including civilian killings. More generally, its effectiveness against the insurgents is limited.
John T. Godfrey, acting coordinator of the State Department for Combating Terrorism, told reporters last week that the United States was “concerned” about the presence of private contractors who “did not demonstrably help” win the fight against the Islamic State.
“This is honestly a feature of the landscape in Cabo Delgado that complicates rather than helps the efforts to address the terrorist threat there,” he said. Godfrey said.
A senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive issues, said the military training program, which will focus on basic soldier skills, could lead to more ambitious US assistance to Mozambique’s army, including the casualty control, planning and logistics.
The United States also wants to intensify intelligence aid for Mozambique, the official said.
Last week, the State Department also imposed sanctions on a reported ISIS arm in the Democratic Republic of Congo and its leader, Seka Musa Baluku. Islamic insurgents affiliated with the Islamic State are also active in Libya, Mali, Niger and other parts of West Africa.
However, regional experts say that some of the groups use the name of the Islamic State to sow fear and attract funds, while pursuing conflicts that are essentially local in nature.
“They may be covered in the black flag,” he said. Mahtani, the analyst of the Crisis Group, said. ‘But what motivates them to kill? It can be global jihad, but it can also be local conflicts and grievances. ”
Eric Schmitt reports from Washington.