International Crisis Group recommends Maputo government to combine military response with strong investment in communities and dialogue with insurgents.
South Africa’s President revealed that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) troika summit meets on the 23rd in Maputo to decide on “the appropriate regional response” in support of the Government of Mozambique in the fight against terrorism in Cabo Delgado province.
Questioned in Parliament, Cyril Ramaphosa said his government is “working within the SADC systems to address the destabilization of Cabo Delgado and to establish political stability in Mozambique.”
Meanwhile, the International Crisis Group, a non-international organization specializing in issues such as international armed conflict resolution and prevention (ICG), and based in Brussels, argued that the Maputo government should combine its military response with a strong investment in communities and dialogue with insurgents.
In a report released Friday, 11, the group highlights “the set of local factors that have stimulated … the insurgents to battle” in order to contain the violence.
The conflict has claimed more than 2,800 lives, half of them civilians, and forced more than 700,000 from their homes.
The insurgents known locally as Al-Shabab launched an attack on the city of Palma in March that overwhelmed the Security and Defense Forces (FDS) and forced French energy giant Total to suspend work on its mega natural gas exploration project in Cabo Delgado.
In the attack, dozens of people were killed and 67,000 were displaced, in what was considered one of the largest attacks by Islamic radicals in southern Africa and has raised international concern.
The ICG urges Maputo in its report to “use force wisely,” accepting outside offers of military assistance, but focusing on containing the insurgents’ expansion and protecting displaced civilians.
“There needs to be an adequate level of military support to pressure this group…to consider surrender, but also to offer them a way out,” the report’s lead author, Africa expert Dino Mahtani, told AFP.
To achieve this, according to Mahtani, the state should use donor money to fund development initiatives that can “calm local tensions” and provide alternative livelihoods for those who are considering joining the insurgency as well as those who have already joined its ranks.
Mahtani added that the aid would open the possibility for urgent dialogue with the jihadists and pave the way for discussions on a potential amnesty.
So far, the government of Mozambique has focused most of its attention on a military response.
The ICG urges President Filipe Nyusi to accept a “measured” external intervention to support and train local troops, avoiding a “heavy deployment” of foreign military personnel.
“That could end up just being a lightning rod for international jihadists to come and fight an international intervention,” Mahtani warned.
It should be noted that Nyusi has so far refused a foreign force, opting instead to negotiate support with private countries and groups.
In his speech to the South African Parliament, President Cyril Ramaphosa recalled that a mission of experts from SADC proposed support for the Defense and Security Forces of Mozambique, without giving details.
The proposal, known in April, included sending a force of three thousand men and heavy equipment.
