Almost two weeks after the attack on the port city of Palma by the armed group calling itself Al-Chabab, the Mozambican authorities confirmed on Monday, April 5, to gradually regain control of the situation.
“It is not over yet (…) but a significant number of terrorists have been shot,” the commander of military operations in Palma told reporters, eleven days after the attack on this port city with 75,000 inhabitants. By jihadists and claimed by the Islamic State group.
The governor of Cabo Delgado province, Valige Tauabo, was more triumphant on Monday: “Our presence here in Palma is the result of our defense and security forces engaging in the patriotic cause. So what they report, and what the government has published, is that the job has been done and the enemy has been overthrown ”.
A dubious civil society
In the opinion of many experts, regardless of the reality of this readmission of Palma from the Mozambican forces, the situation can be reversed at any time by rebels who have shown their ability to surprise and counter the authorities’ plans.
Edson Cortez from the NGO Centro de Integridade Publica (Center for Public Integrity) recalls that since the conflict began, the information from the field is contrary to the official speech: “The Government of Mozambique is still trying to pass the picture of a situation under control. The fact that officers or holders of public authority, such as the governor, claim that the inhabitants will be able to return. It is more of a propaganda number, it will not bring the displaced back to their homes. ”
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Mozambique’s neighbors are also worried this growing jihadist threat at the Tanzanian border. An extraordinary SADC summit is being prepared. Maputo maintains its position at the moment and refuses regional interference in its internal affairs. At the same time, the African Union last week called for an urgent regional and international response to the deterioration of security in northern Mozambique.
Displaced people at the end of the rope
The number of people killed in the attack on Palma is still unknown. As for the displaced, the UN organizations are talking about about 11,000 rescued people. These describe a nightmare that lived in Palma during the jihadist and during their escape.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is concerned about the humanitarian consequences of the recent violence. Patrick Youssef, Organizational Director of Africa, explains that the population of the region is at an end: a context of chronic poverty, the aftermath of Cyclone Kenneth, to which the displacement of populations linked to the jihadist attacks is added.
During our recent visit to Pemba, our President and I testified about 25,000 people who had hosted the same number of internally displaced persons. Therefore, 50,000 people live in acute insecurity.
Patrick Youssef (ICRC) on the situation in Mozambique
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