Several armed groups are threatening the peace in Mozambique. In the north, Islamist fighters are attacking innocent people under the flag of the so-called Islamic State (IS). In the center, a splinter group of the opposition party is refusing to sign a peace treaty with the government. Once again, poverty and a lack of prospects provide the best breeding ground for violent gangs and their recruiters. International aid is proving difficult and could further exacerbate the situation.

Armed conflicts in Mozambique should actually be a thing of the past. On August 1, 2019, the government and the opposition party Renamo signed a peace treaty. Switzerland helped to mediate between the two parties, who had repeatedly fought bloody battles since the 1970s. In the years from 1977 to 1992 alone, 900,000 people died and 1.7 million people were forced to flee.

The peace treaty was supposed to make this a thing of the past. However, the reality in the north and center of the country leaves little hope for peace. The province of Cabo Delgado on the border with Tanzania has been the target of attacks by Islamist groups for months. Under the flag of the so-called IS, they want to establish a Central African caliphate, reports the Southern Times. The United Nations has already counted over 1,500 fatalities and 300,000 people have fled within Mozambique.

North only of interest with gas deposits

For years, the far north was of little interest to the Mozambican government. The capital Maputo is 1,700 km away at the southern end of the country. High youth unemployment and a lack of prospects make it easy for Islamist recruiters to find new recruits for their groups.

With the discovery of huge gas deposits in the region, large international resource companies have entered the country. And with them private security companies, such as the notorious Russian Wagner Group. The so-called IS promptly armed itself with new fighters from East African countries, writes the military platform SOFREP. The fact that the coronavirus can spread unhindered in areas without state control is likely to further exacerbate the situation.

Our partner organizations in Milange, around 500 km from Cabo Delgado, are keeping a close eye on the situation. Not only has the number of attacks steadily increased since the beginning of the year, they are now also occurring further and further south in the province of Nampula.

Our partners are directly affected

In the center of Mozambique, on the corridor between Beira and Chimoio, the situation is also sobering despite the peace agreement. A group there has split off from the opposition party and is resisting the agreements. They were supposed to disarm and join the state police and military. Instead, the group is now attacking civilian buses and trucks under the name Renamo Junta.

For our partner organizations in Chimoio, this means spontaneous rescheduling on a daily basis. They were unable to carry out some activities, particularly around the elections in October 2019. The safety of participants and employees would have been at risk.

Their regular visits to the youth clubs outside the large city of Chimoio have to be well planned and constantly adapted to the security situation. During our project trip in January this year, we were also directly affected by the conflict in the center: A car journey of around 200 kilometers from Chimoio to Beira turned into a flight lasting several hours with a stopover in Maputo for security reasons.

No solution in sight yet

The uncertain situation has far-reaching consequences for local people on a daily basis. Especially for those who cannot afford the ticket for the flight and are dependent on the bus service. They have to live with the constant fear of becoming a victim of an attack.

It remains to be hoped that the government will soon be able to end the two conflicts in the country. In the meantime, the government has offered the rebels a ceasefire to enable negotiations. The rebels have not yet given in. The battle with the so-called IS is spreading. The Russian Wagner Group appears to have already given up, and Maputo is now seeking help from the EU and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Experts fear that direct intervention by the EU or the USA could lead to an international proxy war against IS . This can still be prevented.

In the short term, however, there will be no quick and peaceful solution to the conflict in the north. And e here will only be long-term peace in the country if the poorer sections of the population also get a slice of the huge resources being exported and young people in the country are given real prospects. We work on this with our partners every day.