Muatide massacre

Last updated
Muatide massacre
Part of Insurgency in Cabo Delgado
Location Muatide football field, Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique
DateNovember 6-8, 2020
Attack type
 Beheading
Deaths50+
PerpetratorsIslamic State flag.svg Islamic State - Central Africa Province

Between November 6 and 8, 2020, jihadist militants from Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jamaah (ASWJ) [note 1] executed over fifty civilians in the village of Muatide. The massacre took place four days into the group's occupation of the town, and many of the victims were undergoing male initiation rites. The bodies of residents from other occupied villages were brought to the football field in the town, and ASWJ fighters hunted down remaining civilians that had fled into the bush.

Contents

Background

The jihadist group Al-Shabaab, also known as Islamic State - Mozambique (ISM), Ansar al-Sunna, and Ahlu Sunnah wal Jamaah, has waged an insurgency in northern Mozambique's Cabo Delgado Province since 2017. [1] The group has been known to launch raids into villages sympathetic to or controlled by the Mozambican Army (FADM), and brutally execute civilians and soldiers by decapitation. [2] In April 2020, Ansar al-Sunna executed over fifty-two people in the village of Xitaxi after the residents refused to fight for the group. [3] Similar massacres took place in Quissanga and Mocímboa da Praia later that summer. [2]

Massacre

On October 31, ASWJ began an offensive in Muidumbe District, attacking the towns of Magaia, Nchinga, 24 de Marco, Miteda, Muambula, Namacande, and Muatide. [4] Mozambican soldiers fought back in Namacande and nearby towns the following day, but were defeated by the insurgents. [4] This offensive ramped up on November 2, with ASWJ attacking civilians on the road between Palma and Mueda. [5] Muatide was used as ASWJ's base of operations during the offensive. [5] Residents stated that ASWJ did not attack civilians on the first day, but began kidnapping and beheading people two days into the occupation. [6] The first resident to be killed in Muatide was a teacher, and in Muambula, local rulers were beheaded first. [6]

Between November 6 and November 8, boys from the ASWJ-occupied towns that were undergoing male initiation rites were brought to the football field in Muatide. [7] Fifteen of the boys and five adults were killed and their bodies brought from 24 de Marco, and twenty-four children and six adults from the other villages were killed and had their bodies brought to the field. [5] Many other civilians had been killed at Muatide as well. Some government workers and teachers, who had heeded a request by a Muidumbe official to return to their villages by November 1, were killed and piled into the field as well. [8] A resident of Muatide who fled the massacre stated he saw the decapitated bodies of dozens of people on the field. While he did not see the massacres in person, the survivor stated that ASWJ insurgents began searching the bush for the civilians that fled, and decapitated them. [9] Other residents testified that the villagers who were killed in the bush were brought back the field with the rest of the massacred civilians. [10]

Survivors talking to Voice of America in Mueda a week after the massacre confirmed initial reports that over fifty people had been killed at the football field in Muatide. [11] Many survivors were scared to return to the village, as ASWJ would kidnap and behead those returning to look for food. [11]

Aftermath

The massacre was considered by an analyst speaking to the BBC "one of the worst of the war." [1] The day after the massacre on November 4, ASWJ insurgents raided the town of Nampanha, and a day after attacked the village of Nanjaba. [5] In Nanjaba, ASWJ killed two civilians and kidnapped six women, with residents fleeing into the bush as ASWJ torched the entire village to the ground. [5] [10]

At least fifty people were killed in total at Muatide. [12] [13] The exact death toll is unknown due to a lack of free press in Cabo Delgado, and reports from Pinnacle News being the only primary sources of the incident until December. [8] Like the massacre at Xitaxi in April that killed a similar number of people, analysts at Cabo Ligado assessed that ASWJ likely targeted Makonde residents and Christians in Muidumbe District harsher compared to other districts due to Muidumbe having a larger population of both. [8] However, the deadlier attacks in Muidumbe could have also been a result of more popular government support in the district. [8]

Reactions

Mozambican authorities denied the existence of any massacres in Muidumbe District. [9] The Catholic Bishop of Pemba acknowledged attacks, but claimed that the beheading of fifty civilians in Muatide was an exaggeration. [8] Cabo Delgado governor Valige Tauabo denied any attacks or massacres occurred in Muidumbe. [8]

United Nations secretary general António Guterres condemned the massacre in a statement, along with French president Emmanuel Macron. [8] [14]

Notes

  1. ↑ Also known as the Islamic State in Mozambique (ISM).

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cabo Delgado Province</span> Province of Mozambique

Cabo Delgado is the northernmost province of Mozambique. It has an area of 82,625 km2 (31,902 sq mi) and a population of 2,320,261 (2017). As well as bordering Mtwara Region in the neighboring country of Tanzania, it borders the provinces of Nampula and Niassa. The region is an ethnic stronghold of the Makonde tribe, with the Makua and Mwani as leading ethnic minorities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palma, Mozambique</span> Town in Mozambique

Palma is a town on the northeast coast of Mozambique's Cabo Delgado Province. Less than 32 kilometres (20 mi) away is the border with Mtwara Region of Tanzania to the north and north-west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mocímboa da Praia</span> Place in Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique

Mocímboa da Praia is a port town in northern Mozambique, lying on the Indian Ocean coast, in Cabo Delgado Province. It is used as a border post for travel to and from Tanzania even though it is 127 km from the border by road. It is the seat of Mocímboa da Praia District.

Articles related to Mozambique include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insurgency in Cabo Delgado</span> Ongoing armed conflict in Mozambique

The insurgency in Cabo Delgado is an ongoing Islamist insurgency in Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique, mainly fought between militant Islamists and jihadists attempting to establish an Islamic state in the region, and Mozambican security forces. Civilians have been the main targets of terrorist 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's Central Africa Province 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. As of 2020, the insurgency intensified, as in the first half of 2020 there were nearly as many attacks carried out as in the whole of 2019.

Dyck Advisory Group (DAG) is a private military company based in Velddrif, South Africa, founded in 2012 by Lionel Dyck, an ex-military colonel who had served in the Rhodesian Security Forces and then the Zimbabwe Defence Forces. He fought as part of the Zimbabwean intervention force that assisted the Mozambican government against RENAMO during the Mozambican Civil War. At the time, he forged good relations in the Mozambican governing party FRELIMO and with later Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Following the Mozambican Civil War, he remained in the country.

Operation Eagle was the first organised operation of the Portuguese Armed Forces in response to the attack of the FRELIMO guerrilla group, on 25 September 1964, to the administrative post of Chai, in the district of Cabo Delgado, materialising therefore in the first operation in the one of Portuguese Colonial War in the theatre of operations of Mozambique.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al-Shabaab (Mozambique)</span> Islamist militant group active in Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique

Al-Shabaab, also known as Ansar al-Sunna or Ahlu Sunna Wal Jammah, is an Islamist militant group active in Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique. Since October 2017, it has waged an insurgency in the region, seeking to undermine the secular FRELIMO government and establish an Islamic state. It has occasionally captured territory from the government and has been accused of committing atrocities against civilians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic State – Central Africa Province</span> Central African branch of the Islamic State

The Central Africa Province is an administrative division of the Islamic State (IS), a Salafi jihadist militant group and unrecognised quasi-state. As a result of a lack of information, the foundation date and territorial extent of the Central Africa Province are difficult to gauge, while the military strength and activities of the province's affiliates are disputed. The Central Africa Province initially covered all IS activities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique and Uganda. In September 2020, during the insurgency in Cabo Delgado, IS-CAP shifted its strategy from raiding to actually occupying territory, and declared the Mozambican town of Mocímboa da Praia its capital. After this point, however, the Mozambican branch declined and was split off from IS-CAP in 2022, becoming a separate IS province; as a result, this leaves IS-CAP to operate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.

This article lists events from the year 2020 in Mozambique.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 Mozambique attacks</span> Terrorist incidents in Mozambique

The 2020 Mozambique attacks included multiple attacks launched by insurgents of Islamic State's Central Africa Province and other groups. The attacks left at least 102 people dead.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mocímboa da Praia offensive</span> Islamic State operation during the Insurgency in Cabo Delgado

The Mocímboa da Praia offensive was a six day long offensive in northern Mozambique by Islamic State's Central African Province (IS-CAP) to capture the town of 30,000. The offensive, part of the insurgency in Cabo Delgado, was a major success for IS-CAP, as they captured Mocímboa da Praia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Palma</span> Battle for the control of Palma in Mozambique

The Battle of Palma or the Battle for Palma was fought during late March and early April 2021 over control of the city of Palma in Mozambique, between the Mozambique Defence Armed Forces, other Mozambican security forces and private military contractors on one side, and Islamist rebels reportedly associated with the Islamic State (IS) on another side. The Islamists invaded the city, killing dozens of people before Mozambique regained control days later. Palma was left destroyed, and a major oil and gas company decided to suspend all operations in the area due to the battle. Researchers have described the battle as an overall success for the insurgents. The rebels also maintained their presence in the town's surroundings, and continued to raid Palma in the following weeks. The battle was part of the insurgency in Cabo Delgado, which started in 2017 and has resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, mainly local civilians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Cabo Delgado offensives</span> Aspect of ongoing armed conflict in Mozambique

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">SADC Mission in Mozambique</span> Peacekeeping mission

The Southern African Development Community Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) is an active regional peacekeeping mission operated by the Southern African Development Community in Northern Mozambique's Cabo Delgado Province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Mucojo</span> Military engagement

The Battle of Mucojo was a military engagement between unidentified Anti Islamist militants, Islamic State affiliates, and the Mozambique Defence Armed Forces in the coastal town of Mucojo during the Insurgency in Cabo Delgado. It started on 22 April 2021 when anti-Islamist militants took control of Mucojo and nearby villages including Lumumua. The militants started a killing spree near Mucojo after the Mozambique Army retook many villages near Mucojo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Mbau</span>

The Battle of Mbau was a battle by the joint Mozambican-Rwandan armed forces against ISIS and Al-Shabab in their headquarters of Mbau, a town 50 kilometers southwest of Mocimboa da Praia. The attack on the location was part of the 2021 Cabo Delgado offensives. Mbau was known as the headquarters of Al-Shabaab and the Mozambican counteroffensive on the town resulted in the loss of Mbau, Siri 1, and Siri 2.

On April 7, 2020, jihadists from Islamic State – Central Africa Province in Mozambique killed at least fifty-two young civilians in Xitaxi, Muidumbe District, Mozambique after the young men of the village refused to join the group. The massacre was one of the deadliest massacres perpetrated by Mozambique's cell of the Islamic State.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Mocímboa da Praia</span>

On June 27, 2020, jihadists from al-Shabaab raided the city of Mocímboa da Praia in the Cabo Delgado Province of Mozambique. Al-Shabaab fighters attacked the city following brutal crackdowns against civilians by the Mozambican government, and in their attacks, destroyed homes and killed more civilians. A Mozambican counteroffensive aided by South African mercenaries of the Dyck Advisory Group renewed fighting in the city, with the mercenaries being criticized for their indiscriminate shooting of civilians.

On October 15, 2020, militants from Al-Shabaab, the Islamic State – Central Africa Province's branch in Mozambique, launched an incursion into the village of Kitaya in Mtwara Region, Tanzania, the group's first claimed attack in Tanzania. At least twenty civilians were killed in the massacre.

References

  1. 1 2 "Militant Islamists 'behead more than 50' in Mozambique". 2020-11-09. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
  2. 1 2 "Mozambique: "What I saw is death": War crimes in Mozambique's forgotten cape". Amnesty International. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
  3. ↑ Burke, Jason (2020-04-22). "Islamist group kills 52 in 'cruel and diabolical' Mozambique massacre". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2024-06-15.
  4. 1 2 Project, Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (2020-11-03). "Cabo Ligado Weekly: 26 October-1 November 2020". ACLED. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Cabo Ligado Weekly: 2-8 November - Mozambique | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. 2020-11-11. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  6. 1 2 "Autoridades moçambicanas dizem ter recuperado sede distrital de Muicumbe aos insurgentes". Voice of America (in Portuguese). 2020-11-20. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  7. ↑ "Cabo Delgado: Suspeitos insurgentes matam 20 pessoas em ritos de iniciação". Voice of America (in Portuguese). 2020-11-05. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Cabo Ligado Weekly: 9-15 November 2020". Cabo Ligado. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  9. 1 2 Cebola, Tavares; Kleinfeld, Philip (December 21, 2020). "Mozambique's Cabo Delgado: Militants advance as aid access shrinks". The New Humanitarian. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
  10. 1 2 "Militant Islamists 'behead more than 50' in Mozambique". 2020-11-09. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  11. 1 2 "Sobreviventes do massacre descrevem "execuções agoniantes" em campo de futebol de Muidumbe". Voice of America (in Portuguese). 2020-11-16. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  12. ↑ "ISIL-linked attackers behead 50 people in northern Mozambique". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  13. ↑ "Incident Summary for GTDID: 202011060004". www.start.umd.edu. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  14. ↑ "Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General on Mozambique | United Nations Secretary-General". www.un.org. Retrieved 2024-06-16.

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