CONFLICTO
EUA incluye en su lista negra a un grupo de Mozambique por vínculos con el EI
March 16, 2021 - La agencia de asistencia Save the Children dice que milicianos han decapitado hasta a niños de tan solo 11 años en la provincia de Cabo Delgado en Mozambique como parte de una insurgencia islamista que ha matado a miles y obligado a muchos a abandonar sus hogares.
More than 2,600 people have been killed in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province and another 670,000 have been displaced since the insurgency began in 2017.
The militant group Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jama (ASWJ) is known locally as Al-Shabab, but has no links to the Somali jihadi group of the same name.
ASWJ is believed to have up to 800 fighters, and is tied to smuggling and criminal networks that provide weapons and other equipment.
The group, which staged its first attack in 2017 and declared allegiance to the so-called Islamic State group in 2019, co-opts young people in to joining the group as conscripts and if they refuse they are killed, sometimes beheaded.
The insurgency is rooted in grievances of Mozambique’s poorest province – locals say they do not benefit from some of the world’s biggest gas reserves.
On March 10, the U.S. designated ASWJ as a terrorist organisation and imposed sanctions on its leader, Abu Yasir Hassan.
U.S. Special Forces have started training Mozambican marines to repel the insurgency.
- CHILDREN AS YOUNG AS 11 BRUTALLY MURDERED (Save the Children)
- The Islamic State in Mozambique (Lawfareblog)
- Mozambique militants beheading children as young as 11 (Reuters)
- American Soldiers Help Mozambique Battle an Expanding ISIS Affiliate (NYT)
- Mozambique insurgency: Militants beheading children, aid agency reports (BBC)