Mozambique

The European Union has created an air bridge to Pemba, capital of the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, to deliver life saving aid to victims of islamist terrorism.

Earlier this year, the United States-led ‘war on terror’ gained another African front line. In March, the USA added a Mozambican group known as Ansar al-Sunnah to its list of designated foreign terrorist organizations, under the name ‘ISIS-Mozambique’. Portugal, the USA and others are already preparing to offer Mozambique help with counter-insurgency. If recent experience in the Sahel region is anything to go by, this will include military support, including arms transfers. But is boosting Mozambique’s armed forces the best approach?