The Islamic State group claims responsibility for the attack on Palma, in the province of Cabo Delgado, in northern Mozambique.
An attack that, according to the authorities in Maputo, would have killed dozens of people and caused the flight of thousands of refugees since Wednesday.
The jihadist organization that the Mozambican Islamist group Ansar al-Sunna has joined claims that he “controls the coastal city”, a few kilometers from the French Total gas mega project, a project that has been suspended again since Saturday.
According to the statement from the Islamic State group, the jihadists have taken control of the city of Palma after three days of fighting. They would have killed 55 soldiers and “Christians” or Westerners, destroyed government buildings and banks.
For their part, Mozambican forces estimate the number killed at several dozen and say they are regaining ground by facing pockets of jihadist resistance. Witnesses among the civilians told the Portuguese-speaking editorial staff of the RFI how thousands had fled, on foot inland or at sea on makeshift boats.
Palma, after Mocimboa da Praia
This attack follows the capture of Mocimboa da Praia, an important port in the province still under jihadist control in August, while this port made it possible to supply the entire northern part of the region and in particular the construction site of Mozambican gas extraction and condensation, led by Total.
The Islamic line therefore seems to be tightening in this region, from the Islamist group Ansar al-Sunna. Commonly known as Al-Shabab, which means “young people”, not to be confused with the Somali Shebab, was created in 2007 and its fighting has intensified since 2017 in the province of Cabo Delgado.
The group is recruiting in neighboring Tanzania and joined the Islamic State in 2018. It has thus become part of the “Islamic State in Central Africa” branch which itself has just been registered on the list of terrorist organizations by the United States and of which another component – the allied democratic forces , ADF – conducts operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The jihadist attack in Palma came the day after Total announced a restart of its gas project. Some experts, contacted by RFI, believe that the surprise attack by the jihadists had been prepared for a long time after a three-month calm. There is therefore not necessarily a direct link to the announcement of the Total restart of the gas project last Tuesday, the day before the offensive.
Hundreds of employees at the gas site were evacuated
But in fact, the chaos in Palma has led Total to once again refrain from resuming work on the Afungi Peninsula, a few kilometers away. Especially since thousands of civilians tried to take refuge in the highly protected place of the operator and its subcontractors. Hundreds of employees have been returned to Pemba, the capital of Cabo Delgado, further south, which is not in jihadist hands. Or even further in Maputo, the Mozambican capital.
More generally, the resumption of jihadist attacks is a very severe blow to the development of the Cabo Delgado region, while it was this that attracted the most investment around Total’s flagship project, only $ 20 billion.
EU military assistance
Until now, the Mozambican authorities had refused any assistance from SADEC’s neighbors to deal with the jdihadi offensive and its consequences. At the moment, only foreign mercenaries – especially South Africans – came to reinforce the Mozambican soldiers.
But Maputo has just accepted European support for military training in which Portugal, the former colonial power, which has been head of the European Council since the beginning of the year, will participate, as will France, whose Mayotte territory is a few nautical miles.
The Mozambican government is also currently in talks with UN agencies to organize aid to refugees, who are already nearly 700,000 people who have been displaced in three years.
