ISIS in Mozambique

[Grimbold21]

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/arme...eports/2038483

https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.c...w/79161728.cms

Today I was listening to a Portuguese current events style talk show when one of the commentators mentioned that Macron had come out and decry the situation in Mozambique with Daesh, and I was like "huh?"

I blame myself cause I don't always keep up with the news but then I went til Google's 2nd page and couldn't find any major news network that often gets cited here for this.

Frankly, I had no idea that ISIS was in Mozambique and I certainly hadn't heard about some affiliated group rounding up 50 people and chopping their heads off.

I guess it just serves to reinforce the notion that if it's not happening at home it's not worth including in the news cycle, particularly with Trump, Covid and - to a lesser extent I suppose - the war in Armenia.

I suppose it's a bit of an embarrassment for Portugal to not jump in the condemnation of this since Mozambique is part of the Community of Portuguese language countries, or the UK for that matter, since it's also a member of the Commonwealth I think.

Had anyone heard about this?

[PC2]

That is unfortunate that they want to create an Islamist caliphate in northern Mozambique but the good news is that apparently Islam is not the most popular religion in the country. Wikipedia says only 18% of the country follows Islam so it should be hard for them to gain a lot of ground.

[Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang]

That is unfortunate that they want to create an Islamist caliphate in northern Mozambique but the good news is that apparently Islam is not the most popular religion in the country. Wikipedia says only 18% of the country follows Islam so it should be hard for them to gain a lot of ground.

Apparently there's been trouble brewing down there for several years, with the rebels referred to as Shebab at first, and the mass execution was apparently of youth that refused to join them.

I am much less optimistic, as despite the muslim population being a small minority, like in most countries in the area they are spatially concentrated, making them the majorities in some provinces.

And there's always the risk of spillage, like how Boko Haram hit not only Nigeria but also Cameroon or how Kenya for example has been suffering from shebab encroachements for many years so far.

Plus lets not forget that those groups are usually quite small, but grow notably through kidnapping and brainwashing of youth. Accounts of how Isis has entrenched itself in Syria by "devouring" the Yazidis, are particularly gruesome : killing all the men and elders, enslaving the women and girls as sex/reproductive slaves and brainwashing the young boys into cannon fodder. The mass kidnapping of hundreds of schoolgirls by Boko Haram is a well publicized enough example (current estimates are 2000 kidnapped women and girls, that have since become "married").

If we look at the few evidence so far, they will inflict much damage on their "tepid" muslim brethren, trying to coerce as many as possible to join them, occasionally their attack will spill over non muslims, which might result in backlash on the muslim population, which they might exploit for their recruitment...

[Forogil]

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/arme...eports/2038483

https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.c...w/79161728.cms

Today I was listening to a Portuguese current events style talk show when one of the commentators mentioned that Macron had come out and decry the situation in Mozambique with Daesh, and I was like "huh?"

I blame myself cause I don't always keep up with the news but then I went til Google's 2nd page and couldn't find any major news network that often gets cited here for this.

Frankly, I had no idea that ISIS was in Mozambique and I certainly hadn't heard about some affiliated group rounding up 50 people and chopping their heads off.

Part of that may be that many call them ISIS - Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (alternatively ISIL where Syria is called 'Levant'), whereas they themselves since 2014 changed that to IS - just meaning the Islamic State, to indicate their global ambitions.

It's also common that many of the apologists for their terrorism in the west ignore IS-terrorism when it happens outside the west and obvious war-zones, as it doesn't fit the narrative of alienation and discrimination that are stated as causes.

[Dezerte]

I vaguely remember reading about ISIS gaining ground in Eastern Africa many years ago, but I haven't heard or read anything about the current situation. Sad that it's still a problem there.

[Thekri]

Daesh is incredibly global in scope, but it is also a pretty nebulous concept, rather then a single organization. The Daesh in Mozambique is certainly inspired by the Syrian caliphate, but by no means the same group.

One of the things that happened in 2014-2015 was that as Baghdadi's organization achieved huge successes in Mesopotamia, his teachings really swept through Islamic insurgencies like wildfire, and tons of little groups sprang up that were desperate to get local "franchise rights". Baghdadi specifically encouraged an enabled this, sending out envoys all over the world to test the religious purity and convictions of these groups, and associate the strongest and most "pure" of these with the Syrian Caliphate. Some very large groups, like Boko Haram, Jamat a Nusrah, and Al Shabab all formed loose alliances with Daesh, while many smaller groups assumed straight up franchise roles, and intel groups call them names like ISSI (Indian Subcontinent), ISK (Koristan), ISGS (Greater Sahara) and many, many more.

Both East and West Africa have serious problems with radicalization of Islamic minorities, which really isn't surprising given the major religious conflicts in the region tend to fuel radicalization in both sides. Daesh is really just a mirror image of the Lord's Resistance Army and other quasi-religious terror organizations that have threatened some of these nations for decades now.

[jonnysensible]

Daesh is incredibly global in scope, but it is also a pretty nebulous concept, rather then a single organization. The Daesh in Mozambique is certainly inspired by the Syrian caliphate, but by no means the same group.

One of the things that happened in 2014-2015 was that as Baghdadi's organization achieved huge successes in Mesopotamia, his teachings really swept through Islamic insurgencies like wildfire, and tons of little groups sprang up that were desperate to get local "franchise rights". Baghdadi specifically encouraged an enabled this, sending out envoys all over the world to test the religious purity and convictions of these groups, and associate the strongest and most "pure" of these with the Syrian Caliphate. Some very large groups, like Boko Haram, Jamat a Nusrah, and Al Shabab all formed loose alliances with Daesh, while many smaller groups assumed straight up franchise roles, and intel groups call them names like ISSI (Indian Subcontinent), ISK (Koristan), ISGS (Greater Sahara) and many, many more.

Both East and West Africa have serious problems with radicalization of Islamic minorities, which really isn't surprising given the major religious conflicts in the region tend to fuel radicalization in both sides. Daesh is really just a mirror image of the Lord's Resistance Army and other quasi-religious terror organizations that have threatened some of these nations for decades now.

dont forget all the fun offshoots in east asia! I remember watching the fighting in that town in the philippines that got fucked up a few years back, and the whole family who suicided bombed a church in sri lanka was it?

Also alot of fighters from than carribean too. And alot went home after the caliphate fell.