APA-Maputo (Mozambique) – This week, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for several attacks in the north of the country.
On Friday, August 25, Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi announced the death of jihadist leader Bonamade Machude Omar, known as Ibn Omar.
He was the military leader of “Ahl al Sunna wal jamm’a” (the people of tradition and consensus), better known as “al-Shabaab” (the students).
According to Nyusi, the jihadist was killed on August 22 in the north of the country, where the insurgents who joined the Islamic State in 2019 are active.
Designated an international terrorist like the group’s spiritual leader, the Tanzanian Abu Yassir Hassan, the Mozambican Ibn Omar led the famous attack on the city of Palma in March 2021.
After the attack, more than a thousand Rwandan soldiers and troops from southern African countries were sent to Mozambique at Maputo’s request. In 2022, the port of Mocimboa da Praia, which had been occupied by the rebels for a year, was retaken by Rwandan forces.
Tristan Gueret, an analyst at Control Risks, a consultancy specialising in political, security and integrity risk management, sees the death of Ibn Omar and several other commanders as “a further indication that the counter-insurgency efforts have had an impact on the jihadist group, which is on the retreat.”
The specialist on the jihadist insurgency in northern Mozambique believes that the radical Islamists lost their “operational freedom in 2023” and that this is reflected in the “decrease in the frequency of militant attacks in Cabo Delgado” compared to 2022. “Militant cells had to change their areas of operation frequently to escape military pressure,” he noted.
In this context, the death of Ibn Omar can be seen as a “heavy blow” that will further challenge the group’s organizational capabilities, Gueret added.
However, the specialist believes that the jihadists still continues to pose a threat in the central districts of Cabo Delgado, noting that “precedents have shown that militant groups are able to recover from the death of key members.”
The Islamic State has lost four “caliphs” since 2014, but remains a threat to global security.
The Mozambican leader warned that the death of the jihadist leader does not mean the end of the fight against terrorism in the north of the country.
AC/lb/as/APA