News24 | Mozambique’s army is losing a crucial counter-insurgency battle

Foreign training has strengthened the army, but abuses against civilians undermine the community support needed to defeat insurgents, writes Borges Nhamirre in ISS Today.

When terrorists attacked Cabo Delgado nine years ago on 5 October 2017, the Mozambique Defence Armed Forces (FADM) was taken by surprise, despite its three decades of experience fighting armed conflicts inside the country.

Until then, Mozambique had been largely spared the terrorist threats experienced by other African countries and beyond. The FADM had scant control over Cabo Delgado province and was unprepared for a rural guerrilla war imposed by local jihadists with external support. It lacked combat capability, logistics, modern military equipment, air combat assets and military intelligence.

The FADM has since benefitted from substantial external training and efforts to improve logistics and equipment. But this has yet to translate into results on the ground, where communities still suffer inadequate security and human rights violations at the hands of state forces. And it is in these communities that the FADM should be gaining the upper hand against insurgents.

Insurgents’ seizure of district capitals and TotalEnergies subsequent suspension of its US$20 billion gas extraction project in 2021 forced the government to request external support, some of which benefitted the FADM.

The Southern African Development Community Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) helped the FADM dismantle terrorist bases and neutralise leaders, restore state authority, strengthen maritime security and protect access routes within the province. The Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) helped recover territories key to the gas industry’s logistics and trained the FADM in counter-terrorism, as did the European Union (EU), Algeria, United States (US) and other allies.

Of all these programmes, the EU’s has had the greatest impact, channelling roughly €89 million into training and the acquisition of non-lethal equipment. The EU Training Mission in Mozambique trained over 1 600 military personnel, divided into 11 FADM Quick Reaction Force companies. The courses covered command and control, communication, civil-military cooperation, human rights and international humanitarian law.

Mozambique reactivated its military cooperation with Algeria, focusing on operational training, counter-terrorism and technical capacity building for army personnel. Specialised training of an FADM battalion currently underway in Algeria is expected to include tactical instruction, among other elements.

Through the US’ Joint Combined Exchange Training programme, the FADM receives instruction in small-unit tactics, operational planning, combat medical care and civil protection.

These initiatives are gradually transforming the FADM’s capabilities and increasing the survival rates of military personnel. However, inadequate logistics and equipment remain a major operational weakness, with much of FADM’s gear originating from Russia and China. Military personnel report obsolete and non-functional weaponry, which has led to deaths on the battlefield, and insufficient transport for troops and for evacuating the injured.

In response, the Ministry of National Defence has built partnerships to secure logistics, supplies and equipment for the FADM. In March, an agreement was signed with India to supply defence equipment and transfer technology for the assembly and repair of aircraft, land vehicles and patrol vessels.

In 2024, a defence cooperation agreement with Turkey was ratified by Mozambique’s Council of Ministers to develop an industry focused on military aviation and weapons, combat vehicles and the manufacture of naval assets.

The US is providing US$1.5 million for a new programme to strengthen Mozambique’s capacity to manage and secure weapons and ammunition, and to reduce the risk of conventional weapons being diverted to criminal and terrorist groups.

However, the impact of these partnerships has yet to be felt on the ground. Since SAMIM’s withdrawal in mid-2024, the FADM has independently led offensives, patrols along major roads, and established defensive positions to contain terrorists’ advance. But weaknesses are showing.

Terrorist groups that had been confined to remote bases regained momentum and began attacks on major roads to steal food, abduct drivers and passengers, and demand ransoms. Joint police and FADM escorts were introduced, but the insurgents staged deadly ambushes, killing police officers, soldiers and civilians.

Human rights violations are another problem. Mozambican troops have repeatedly been accused of sexually exploiting displaced women, killing civilians suspected of collaborating with terrorist groups and committing war crimes against captured terror suspects. While the EU’s training emphasises human rights, reports of civilians being killed by the FADM continue.

With training provided to the FADM by various countries, the problem of multiple military doctrines hinders a coherent approach to human rights. And Mozambique’s political leadership has not clarified the matter. In his September speech marking the FADM’s 62nd anniversary, none of President Daniel Chapo’s recommendations addressed the need to respect human rights in counter-terrorism operations.

This is where Mozambique is losing the war against terrorism. As long as the FADM fails to gain the support of local communities in Cabo Delgado, the insurgents will keep thriving. They do not need to be militarily superior to government troops, as they are characterised by small, lightly armed bands practising guerrilla warfare.

To survive, they need to hide from government forces, which is made possible by the rough terrain, poor road access and distance from the centres of state power. And they benefit from local communities who agree not to report insurgents to government agents.

Effective counter-insurgency requires government forces to distinguish between active rebels and non-combatant community members. Rather than being targeted or killed by security forces, these community members should be encouraged to cooperate by reporting the insurgents’ presence.

The recent establishment of a counter-terrorism centre offers hope that Mozambique can benefit from interagency coordination to better plan and conduct its counter-insurgency operations. But for this to happen, the FADM must reverse its culture of human rights abuses against communities affected by the insurgency and foster effective civil-military cooperation.

Borges Nhamirre is a researcher on transnational threats and organised crime at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS).