WHO ARE AL-SHABAAB?

It’s not affiliated to the Somali group of the same name Five years ago. Al-Shabaab – which means “The Youth” – took root in Cabo Delgado five years ago. The region and neighbouring Niassa are the country’s only Muslim-majority provinces.

Cabo Delgado, home to offshore natural gas projects worth around R900 billion, is the country’s poorest province. Many young Muslims are feeling disaffected, providing fertile ground for Al-Shabaab’s message.

“The situation is dire,” says Jonathan Whittall, director of the analysis department at Médecins sans Frontières (MSF). “What we’re seeing in Cabo Delgado is a humanitarian emergency.”

Since 2018, Al-Shabaab have made much of the province ungovernable, causing thousands of residents to flee. And since swearing allegiance to Isis they’ve become even bolder.

“A video from 2019 said that they wanted to replace the Mozambican government with sharia [a strict form of Islamic law],” says Martin Ewi, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS).

Last year they captured the port of Mocímboa da Praia, 80km from Palma. Total suspended work on its $20billion (R300bn) gas project, due to become operational in 2024. After the government agreed to the enforcement of a special 25km security area in the Palma region, work recommenced in late March. But almost instantly the town was besieged.