Country Report on Terrorism 2021 - Chapter 4 - Terrorist Safe Havens - Mozambique

The Islamic State in Mozambique (ISIS-M), was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the United States in March.  ISIS-M continued attacks in Cabo Delgado and Niassa Provinces in northern Mozambique and expanded into Mtwara, Tanzania. Mozambique, Rwanda, and the South African Development Community (SADC) coordinated a response to the threat in July, which resulted in an increase in ISIS-M events against state forces.  This was the first year in which most ISIS-M activity were clashes with state/external forces rather than attacks against civilians.

In March, ISIS-M attacked the town of Palma, the administrative capital of Palma District, and the northernmost district bordering Tanzania in Cabo Delgado Province (CDP).  This was ISIS-M’s first attack on the district capital, and the city was under siege from the FTO until April.  ISIS-M activity in Palma and Nangade during the first five months of 2021 surpassed the total number of events in 2020, indicating a geographic shift northward of ISIS-M’s attacks in CDP when compared with its activity in previous years.

In July, the Rwanda Defense Force (RDF) completed its deployment of special forces and police to CDP.  In addition, elements from Botswana, South Africa, and Angola arrived under the auspices of the SADC Standby Force mission to Mozambique to counter ISIS-M.  By September, Mozambican security forces (FDS) and RDF troops continued small-scale clearing operations, including maritime interdictions, against retreating ISIS-M fighters in CDP.  The FDS and RDF, with support from the SADC Standby Force, also began to conduct counter‑ISIS‑M operations in Niassa Province, which borders CDP to the West.

While coordinated regional forces enjoyed some success in containing ISIS-M in CDP, ISIS-M attacked several villages in the Mecula and Marrupa districts in neighboring Niassa Province beginning in November.  During a December attack, heavily armed insurgents killed a civilian and razed houses and cars in several villages south of Mecula town in Niassa Province.  Throughout the year, there were 384 ISIS-M events with a total of 1,127 fatalities among civilians, state forces, and ISIS-M militants.

The government was not known to support or facilitate the proliferation or trafficking of WMD in or through its territory.

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