- Between July 2021 and December 2023, SAMIM clashed 67 times with rebels in Cabo Delgado.
- The International Crisis Group says SAMIM’s military effort failed to weed out extremists who are now regrouping after SAMIM’s exit.
- The Rwandan Defence Forces and SAMIM’s failure to share intelligence is one of the reasons why the insurgents are still in operation.
The SADC Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) will formally leave the oil-rich Cabo Delgado province in July, three years after being deployed and after fighting militants 67 times between August 2021 and December 2023.
But with only South African troops now left, the mission had not done enough, both analysts and recent events suggested.
SA National Defence Force (SANDF) troops were ambushed by insurgents last Friday on the N1 that connects Muidumbe, Nangade, Mueda, Mocímboa da Praia and Palma, in an attack that lasted about 45 minutes.
“The terrorists were promptly repelled by the coordinated action of our forces, which forced the enemy to retreat towards the interior of the administrative post of Mucojo,” the SANDF said in a statement.
There were no casualties reported other than two damaged Casspir armoured personnel carriers.
Before that attack, the SAMIM was credited with helping bring calm to areas such as northern Mocímboa da Praia.
That incident was the only combat recorded by the mission this year, with 67 other battles between mid-2021 and the end of 2023.
Despite such success, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said the SAMIM did not achieve most of its goals in Cabo Delgado.
“The military campaign has failed to deal it a decisive blow, and a recent uptick in attacks throughout the province’s coastal areas suggests that fighters are remobilising,” the ICG said in an analysis of the deployment.
The Botswana and Lesotho contingents departed from Cabo Delgado in April, Namibia and Angola departed at the beginning of May, leaving only the SANDF.
The SANDF contributed two-thirds of the force and funded the whole operation.
With SAMIM disbanded, SANDF troops were due to remain until at least March next year, while the regional focus shifted to the SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, SADC executive secretary Elias Magosi said.
The SANDF force to remain in Mozambique, estimated to be about 200 down from about 1 400, will be dealing with illegal maritime activities.
The director of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Mozambique, Professor Adriano Nuvunga, argued “with just two months remaining until SAMIM’s complete withdrawal, security concerns persisted.
“This move, deemed strategically flawed, jeopardises human lives and violates fundamental rights,” he added.
Constraints
According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), the low level of fighting by SAMIM alongside the Mozambican forces to flush out insurgents could be attributed to restrictions that included money.
“The low number of combined operations likely reflected the political and structural constraints that SAMIM has faced. Finance has been a significant factor.
“Under the terms of the operation, personnel contributing countries [PCC] were to cover costs to sustain troops in the field, but not all PCCs were able to do so, with SADC itself drawing almost US$5 million from its contingency and reserve funds,” ACLED said, citing an internal SADC report.
ACLED partly blames the lack of cooperation from the Mozambican authorities.
SADC raised concerns such as that SAMIM headquarters in Pemba were not secured with basics such as a fence. It also complained the head of mission had to work from his hotel room.
Researcher Thomas Mandrup, in a presentation published by the African Center for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes, said the SAMIM allowed humanitarian aid and even development projects to operate and safeguarded the return of internally displaced persons, but challenges could not be ignored.
“SAMIM has suffered from insufficient coordination between itself, the Rwanda Defence Forces [RDF] and the host nation’s security forces. Joint operational planning and even operations have been problematic,” he added.
Part of this, Mandrup said, was, for example, that they had different communication equipment, and the soldiers spoke different languages.
The RDF was deployed a month after the SAMIM on a different arrangement with Mozambique.
From the get-go, ACLED highlighted the two forces, “failed to routinely share intelligence, likely reflecting the lack of political support for the mission from Mozambique and contributing to the low level of operations overall and of joint operations in particular”.
Pockets of success
In May 2022, more than 60 militants surrendered to the Tanzanian army and local authorities on separate occasions.
“Success in Nangade can partly be explained by Tanzania’s interest in addressing ISM activity along its border,” ACLED said in its analysis.
The Tanzanian Defence Forces were deployed under a bilateral agreement with Mozambique.
It cannot be said the SAMIM entirely had a failed mission.
READ | Mozambique’s president confirms Cabo Delgado town under Islamist attack
In November 2022, a joint operation between the SAMIM and Mozambican forces managed to flush out insurgents in their hideouts in the Nangade district.
There were insurgent deaths recorded, and others surrendered or fled.
This operation led to a reduction in Islamic extremism operations in the area.
According to ACLED in Nangade during 2022, there were 116 terror incidents linked to extremists.
But due to the SAMIM operation, the following year, only four incidents were recorded.
In 2024, only two minor incidents have been recorded in Nangade.
Over to Rwanda Defence Forces
The RDF have been in Cabo Delgado since July 2021. Since their arrival at the same time as the SAMIM, they have been the preferred partner of Mozambique.
The RDF will be sharing the province with a small group of Tanzanian forces, mainly operating in areas bordering Tanzania.
The Mozambique Defence Armed Forces and Mozambican police remain ill-equipped to fill the gap that will be left by the SAMIM.
Hence, the RDF will have a longer and more complicated role to play as they try to plug the gap.
“Since 2022, the RDF has adopted a markedly defensive posture, focusing on security around Palma and Mocímboa da Praia towns, and securing the main routes in the north of the province.
“Expanding operations will mean engaging in areas where ISM has some demonstrated support, such as in coastal Macomia, and runs the risk of killing or injuring civilians during operations,” ACLED said.
The News24 Africa Desk is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The stories produced through the Africa Desk and the opinions and statements that may be contained herein do not reflect those of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
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Publish date : 2024-05-14 17:36:58