Islamic extremists waging an insurgency in northern Mozambique have increasingly targeted Christians and church buildings in the first three months of this year.

As a result, priests and their followers — a total of 100,000 people — have been forced to flee following increased attacks that have left scores of dead and some church buildings destroyed.

The renewed attacks are coming at a time when the Mozambican government has been celebrating what it claimed to be a victory over the insurgency that has been raging in the Northeastern Cabo Delgado province for the past seven years. Confident that the insurgency had effectively been contained, officials in the capital Maputo even accepted the planned withdrawal of a regional military force that had been deployed to help it.

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Since the beginning of the year, however, these terrorists have increased their attacks, making them more frequent and more daring, and in the process taking large areas under their control.

Since October 2017, Mozambique has been in the throes of a bloody jihadi insurgency that has killed more than 6,000 people and displaced more than million.

News reports show that in the first three weeks of February alone, these terrorists burned at total of 18 churches in nine villages in Chiúre district, located in the southern part of Cabo Delgado — an increase from the 10 that had been destroyed in all of 2022.

“Many of these claims were accompanied by photos of fighters setting light to the churches and demolishing other Christian icons,  such as crucifixes,” wrote Tom Gould, a journalist for Zitamar News, a local media outlet.

He said with these attacks in Chiúre, there can be no doubt that these terrorists are seeking out Christian targets: “This appears to form part of a more general attempt to make good on its claim to embody a ‘caliphate,’ or Islamic government. After taking over Mucojo in Macomia in January, insurgents banned alcohol and imposed dress codes and haircuts based on a strict interpretation of Sharia law.”

There are also reports of terrorists also leaving behind notes demanding non-Muslims pay a tax called “jizya” — even setting up of checkpoints where they collect money from passing drivers.

Sharia-based society

Dr Eric Morier-Genoud, the Mozambican-born political scientist at Queen’s University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, who works on the history of politics, religion, war and conflict-resolution in Southern Africa, said Christians are being increasingly targeted.

“These claims are correct, and have been confirmed, including by the Catholic church itself,” said Morier-Genoud, who recently published a book “Towards Jihad?” on this insurgency with a particular focus on the relationship between Muslims and the state.

“The insurgency has always had a religious element,” he added. “Their political project is to establish a society based on their interpretation of the Muslim sharia law. These January and February attacks were particularly focused on Christian buildings, first, because the insurgents moved into an area which is majority Christian and, second, because they wanted, I suspect, to attract publicity.”

While confirming the attacks on Christians, João Feijó, a researcher with Mozambican research institute OMR said Christians were not the primary target of these terrorists.

“The main target are government infrastructures and off course military, civil servants, and FRELIMO (the ruling party) supporters,” Feijó said.

Muslim make up a majority of Cabo Delgado’s population with 2,3 million, although nationally they are a minority at 19 percent.

Feijó, whose organization works with grassroots communities, revealed that these terrorists have managed to reorganize themselves south of Mocímboa da Praia area, especially in the district of Macomia, controlling the entire coast, where a large part of this Islamist movement originated.

“They buy products at generous prices and treat the population well, which is their social support base for long time,” Feijó said. “On the other hand, Mozambican troops do not know the local languages and are often rude to fisherman, which is why they have not gained popularity among local population.”

Searching for A Muslim solution?

Last month, Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi made a surprise visit to Algeria, a majority Muslim nation, in a trip that the Mozambican media interpreted as an attempt to navigate the complex religious aspect of this growing insurgency.

During the visit, Nyusi met with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to make various agreements between the two African nations. The trip was also cast as an attempt to improve relations with Islamic countries and persuade fundamentalist ones to suppress religious leaders who provide spiritual and educational support to these terrorists.

Analysts like Borges Nhamirre, a researcher with the Institute of Security Studies, said these terrorists are rising up against poor governance and discrimination against Muslims. Since Mozambique gained independence from Portugal in 1975, it has been governed by the FRELIMO party, otherwise known as Frente de Libertação de Moçambique, a democratic socialist political party. Cabo Delgado province’s neglect by Maputo, nearly 1,200 miles away (2,000 kilometers), has caused locals to call it the “Cabo Esquecido” or “Forgotten Cape.”

Nhamirre, who has worked in the province, said religion, however, remains a major factor in this Islamic uprising. About half of the country’s population adheres to some form of Christianity; fewer than one-fifth are Muslims.

“Those people are not saying they are fighting for employment for their youths, for development, or fighting against a corrupt government,” Nhamirre said. “They say they don’t recognize the state of Mozambique, which is not ruled under Sharia law so we cannot pretend to say this has nothing to do with religion. It has to do … not with Islam, but has to do with Islamists, which is a radical form of Islam.”

Cyril Zenda is a Christian and an African journalist and writer based in Harare, Zimbabwe.