page_title: Insurgency in Cabo Delgado
section_title: 2019
hierarchical_section_title: Insurgency in Cabo Delgado / Violence and arrests / 2019
caption_attribution_description: English: Intense Tropical Cyclone Kenneth approaching the Cabo Delgado province of Mozambique at peak intensity on 25 April 2019.
context_page_description: The Insurgency in Cabo Delgado is an ongoing conflict in Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique, mainly fought between Islamist militants attempting to establish an Islamic state in the region, and Mozambican security forces. Civilians have been the main targets of attacks by Islamist militants. The main insurgent faction is Ansar al-Sunna, a native extremist faction with tenuous international connections. From mid-2018, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has allegedly become active in northern Mozambique as well, and claimed its first attack against Mozambican security forces in June 2019. In addition, bandits have exploited the rebellion to carry out raids.
  Ansar al-Sunna is similar to the name of an Iraqi Sunni insurgent group that fought against US troops between 2003 and 2007. Locals call them "al-Shabaab" but they are a separate organization from Somali al-Shabaab. The militants are known to speak Portuguese, the official language of Mozambique, Kimwane, the local language, and Swahili, the lingua franca language spoken in the Great Lakes region.
context_section_description: Sometime in January or early February 2019, security forces captured Abdul Rahmin Faizal, a suspected insurgent leader of Ugandan nationality.
  On 8 February, Islamist fighters attacked Piqueue village in Cabo Delgado, killing and dismembering seven men, and kidnapping four women.
  After Cyclone Kenneth hit Mozambique on 25 April, resulting in much devastation, the rebels initially halted their attacks. On 3 May, however, they struck once again by destroying the village of Nacate, Macomia District, killing six civilians. In the following weeks, the Islamists increased their attacks, raiding and burning several villages such as Ntapuala and Banga-Vieja in Macomia District, as well as Ida and Ipho in Meluco District. They also carried out ambushes, and told locals to abandon their homes. At least two attacks targeted workers of Anadarko Petroleum, a United States-headquartered hydrocarbon exploration company.
  On 4 June, ISIL claimed that its "Central Africa Province" branch had carried out a successful attack on the Mozambican Army at Mitopy in the Mocímboa da Praia District. At least 16 people were killed and about 12 wounded during the attack. By this point, ISIL considered Ansar al-Sunna as one its affiliates, though how many Islamist rebels in Mozambique are actually loyal to ISIL remains unclear.
  On 3 July, an attack by Islamists in Nangade District killed seven people, including civilians and a policeman. On 6 July ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack.
  On 25 September, Russian military hardware, namely two Mi-17 helicopters, was delivered via a Russian Air Force An-124 (registration RA-82038) transport aeroplane which landed at Nacala. The Russian and Mozambican governments had previously signed an agreement on military and technical cooperation in late January 2017.
  In early October, the Mozambican military launched several counter-insurgency operations with the support of Russian mercenaries and defense contractors from the Wagner Group. The rebels were pushed back in many areas of Cabo Delgado, and forced to retreat into the woods. In addition, 34 individuals were detained while traveling from Nampula to Cabo Delgado in order to join the ISIL-affiliated insurgent group. The rebels retiliated by killing seven Russian mercenaries as well as 20 Mozambican soldiers during two ambushes. The attacks were attributed to the Islamic State's Central Africa Province.
  In November, a number of government troops and 5 fighters from the Wagner Group were killed in an ambush, with ISIL claiming responsibility for the attack.
caption: Satellite image of Cyclone Kenneth approaching the Mozambique on 25 April
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