ISIS has claimed an attack on a graphite mining project run by an Australian firm in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province. The terrorist group has said it was behind the beheading of two security guards at the site.
Triton Minerals, an Australia-based mining exploration and development company, confirmed the attack which took place on its premises on 8 June in the Ancuabe District of the Cabo Delgado province. The company also confirmed that two members of its security and caretaker staff were killed.
Previously the militants operated mainly in the districts of Macomia, Mocimboa da Praia and Meluco further north in the province, but the group has recently begun targeting districts in the south of the province as well.
Cabo Delgado has been at the centre of an insurgency since 2017 that has forced hundreds of thousands people from their homes. As a regional response to this SADC, SADC deployed a mission on 15 July 2021 named SADC Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) to support Mozambique in combatting terrorism and acts of violent extremism.
SAMIM comprises of troops deployment from eight SADC member states namely, Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia, working in collaboration with the Forças Armadas de Defesa de Moçambique (FADM) and other troops deployed to Cabo Delgado to combat acts of terrorism and violent extremism.
This recent attack in Cabo Delgado occurs just 3 months following a three-day visit to the province by SADC-state ambassadors to Mozambique who were there to monitor and celebrate the SADC mission in the country.
From 1 – 3 March 2022, #SADC Ambassadors to Mozambique visited #CaboDelgado Province in Mozambique to offer moral support & appreciate operations of SADC Standby Forces fighting acts of terrorism as well as express solidarity with the affected communities @EliasMagosi @sardcnet pic.twitter.com/ldRKzmtHoj
— SADC Secretariat (@SADC_News) March 3, 2022
