Fighters with ties to the Islamic State (IS) group have targeted government buildings and positions in Macomia town in the insurgency-hit Cabo Delgado province, looting shops, warehouses and killing innocents.
According to eyewitness reports, the gunmen had kept the area under siege for two days, filling the atmosphere of fear and chaos.
The jihadists had besieged a medical facility run by an aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), confiscating vehicles and medical supplies, forcing the agency to relocate its staff and suspend its operations in Macomia.
An eyewitness had told BBC how it took two days for government reinforcements to arrive, at a time when the militants had already left.
Over 700 people are reported to have fled this latest round of fighting in Macomia, at least according to a report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
This attack is the latest resurgence of the violence that had been declining as security forces, endorsed by troops from neighbouring states, seemed to be handling the crises.
However, many of those soldiers are now being withdrawn. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) mission, comprising of about 2,000 soldiers from eight countries, has said it will pull out its forces from Mozambique by 15 July, saying that it won’t extend its three-year mandate.
Angola and Namibia are in the process of leaving, seemingly towing the path of Botswana and Lesotho who had since withdrawn their troops.
Meanwhile, in Tanzania, a country bordering Mozambique to the north, has said it will maintain 300 troops. This was revealed by a privately owned Zambeze newspaper, based in the Mozambican capital, Maputo.
South Africa is currently contributing more than 1,000 soldiers to the peacekeeping efforts, but it has said it will keep its troops in Mozambique until 2024’s end.
Rwanda had on the other hand, announced it will send an additional 2,000 troops to the country, even as it was not a member of the SADC.
Attacks from the jihadists have steadily increased since December 2023, leaving over 110,000 displaced, according to the IOM.
Regional security experts have said say that Mozambique’s armed forces could gain victory if its military forces were strengthened more, calling attention to the fact that some countries were withdrawing their troops instead of adding to it.
However, some insecurity pundits have said that the only long-term solution remained in addressing the social and economic challenges rife in the north of the country, where living standards are lower than the south, fuelling frustration and complaints, attributes of which are exploited by the jihadists.
