Americans say Islamic militants are gaining ground.
The terrorist group operating in northern Mozambique is an affiliate of the Islamic State and should be seen as a global terrorism issue, said US counterterrorism coordinator Nathan Sales, who has promoted North American support for the government led by Filipe Nyusi. “What we are seeing today is a committed ISIS affiliate that embraces ISIS ideology, that embraces ISIS tactical procedures and embraces ISIS’s vision of a caliphate with territorial control,” accused Sales.
Islamic militants in Cabo Delgado province – with gas projects valued at US $ 60 billion – are gaining ground, the diplomat reveals. The violence has already hit neighboring Tanzania in October, prompting the two countries, which share a long border, to launch joint military operations.
“The United States wants to be Mozambique’s privileged security partner,” Sales told reporters this Tuesday after visiting Mozambique and South Africa last week.
Reuters writes that this is the clearest view so far of Washington’s perspective on the escalating conflict in northern Mozambique.
