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DRC, Mozambique Insurgencies Need Local Responses, Experts Say

Salem Solomon

   WASHINGTON - Experts are warning that a focus on alleged Islamist
   militant ties is hindering efforts to respond to insurgencies in
   Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

   Local insurgent groups have claimed ties to Islamic State to increase
   their clout, but the groups operate autonomously, experts who study the
   regions say.

   On April 18, a [1]strike on an army base near the Congo's border with
   Uganda left several Congolese soldiers dead and others injured.

   It was the first attack credited to Wilayat Central Africa, previously
   known as the Allied Democratic Forces, a group that has pledged
   allegiance to IS.

   A month later, an IS group took responsibility for attacks in
   northeastern Mozambique, part of a [2]growing insurgency in the country
   led by several groups, including Ahlu Sunnah wa-Jama and al-Shabab. The
   latter group, consisting of about 1,000 fighters who operate in
   decentralized units, shares its name but no known connection with the
   Somali terrorist organization.

   On July 24, IS released a video featuring a man named "Sheikh Abu Abdul
   Rahman" who called for an end to division and infighting among Muslims
   in Central Africa. He also called for the creation of a caliphate. The
   [3]video features heavily armed fighters in a forested area pledging
   allegiance to IS.

   Some saw the proclamation as a [4]sign of solidarity between the
   Mozambican and Congolese extremist groups. But experts are unsure
   whether links to IS signal a new threat or simply reflect the groups'
   attempts to raise their profile.

   Ryan O'Farrell, an extremism researcher studying at the School of
   Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, said
   experts have found virtually no evidence that IS has trained, funded or
   equipped its African affiliates.

   "It also doesn't necessarily fit Islamic State's model. They have
   affiliates all over the continent, and most of them haven't received
   training or weapons from Islamic State Central," O'Farrell told VOA.

   "Pretty much all of its affiliates are local groups that have local
   recruitment networks and local financial capacity and local weapons
   procurement channels. And so, they affiliate themselves with Islamic
   State as a brand."

References

   1. https://www.irinsider.org/subsaharan-africa-1/2019/4/22/isil-claims-first-attack-in-drc
   2. https://www.voanews.com/extremism-watch/gaining-foothold-mozambique
   3. http://sitemultimedia.org/video/SITE_ISCAP_Best_Outcome_Pious.mp4
   4. https://ent.siteintelgroup.com/Statements/is-fighters-in-drc-and-mozambique-renew-pledge-to-baghdad-in-first-iscap-video.html

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