Mozambique Gains Ground Against Insurgents, With Help Of SADC Forces

Written by: INcontext International
Article source: www.incontextinternational.org

Troops from several southern African nations, fighting alongside Mozambican forces, have taken back control of four towns from Islamic insurgent groups in Northern Mozambique, including the strategic town of Awasse. After previously refusing international help, Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi welcomed help from Rwanda, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and others in the fight against insurgents who have been terrorising northern Mozambique since 2017.

In a national address, Mr Nyusi reassured his nation that the mandate of foreign forces was to assist Mozambican forces to restore peace and stability. He went on to say that they should not fear the presence of foreign forces in their country, but rather be concerned about having to fight terrorism alone.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) approved the mobilisation of foreign troops in Mozambique in July. Rwanda sent 1,000 troops, who almost immediately went on the offensive, pursuing insurgent groups in parts of the Mocimboa da Praia and Cabo Delgado provinces.

Rwandan troops have captured and killed dozens of insurgents since entering Mozambique, helping regain control of insurgent-controlled territories. The joint forces have also been fighting in Palma to try and re-secure the Afungi peninsula.

While Rwandan troops are being used in an offensive capacity, others deployed by Zimbabwe, as well as the United States and European Union, will be used to train and advise troops actively engaged in battle. South Africa approved the sending of 1,500 troops to be led by a South African general, and Angola and Botswana both agreed to send forces.

It has not yet been disclosed how each country’s troops will be used. According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), since the beginning of the insurgency in 2017, more than 3,000 people have been killed, over 800,000 have been displaced, and nearly one million need humanitarian aid.

From A Christian Perspective

According to INcontext contacts in Mozambique, the situation on the ground is dire. The internally displaced people who are living in temporary camps are facing significant physical, mental, and spiritual challenges. While the government has promised aid, and several international agencies are pledging support, little has been accomplished to treat people’s immediate needs.

A lack of food, resources, and community support has left many, including those within the Christian community, feeling hopeless and stranded in their circumstances. Mission workers in Mozambique have equated their current situation with that faced by Habakkuk in the Old Testament.

The first chapter of Habakkuk opens with the prophet, Habakkuk, questioning why God would allow such destruction to go on around him. “How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, ‘Violence!’ but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.” An INcontext contact described people in Mozambique as asking these same questions of God as they experience extreme hardships.

Amid the insurgent attacks, lack of resources, and abhorrent living conditions in camps, however, it is the prayer of Christian leaders in Mozambique that people would come to the same hopeful revelation as Habakkuk does in chapter three after the Lord responds to his plea: “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour.” As the SADC forces liberate towns and villages, they will potentially open the way for Christian NGOs to reach these communities and provide them with much-needed physical and spiritual support.

This enables the Body Christ to be a physical representation of the love of God the moment their communities have been freed of the physical representation of evil. May the global Church continue to uplift Mozambique in prayer, for believers to stand firm on the true nature of an eternally good and loving God of justice.

Please pray with us for the following:

• For the joint forces of Mozambique and SADC to implement an effective strategy to end the vicious attacks on villages and civilians
• For an outpouring of resources to meet each person’s physical, emotional, and spiritual needs; and for the Church to play their part in meeting those needs
• For Mozambican believers to remain steadfast, to be encouraged, and for the Gospel to spread amid extremely difficult circumstances

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Date published: 11/08/2021

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