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Moscow's mercenaries: How Russia is swelling the global market for private military companies
[AlAraby] What do we think about when we hear the term 'mercenaries'? For the president of Mozambique, the word has only one meaning - control - and he is willing to pay handsomely for it.Filipe Jacinto Nyusi has two problems; the unrest in the troubled but resource-rich Cabo Delgado region and the jihadists who are taking advantage of it. The conflict has been ongoing since 2017 but escalated in 2020 following a series of gruesome attacks. Over 420,000 people have been displaced in the mainly Muslim province. To deal with the growing threat, the Mozambican leader made offers to several private military companies. In the end, he chose a shadowy mercenary outfit with alleged ties to the Kremlin, the Russian Wagner Group, who said they would get the job done quickly. However, the plan did not work. Several Wagner mercenaries were killed in ambushes in areas completely unknown to the Russians, who have no previous experience with the southern African terrain. In their place, the Mozambican government hired the DAG company, led by South African Colonel Lionel Dyck. He had served in the army of what turned into the white colonialist former republic of Rhodesia in Zimbabwe and has extensive experience in conducting asymmetric fighting. The irony is that in the 1970s, Rhodesia's army, which included Lionel Dyck, attacked Mozambique and Zimbabwe's guerrilla bases, which Filipe Nyusi's party had sheltered. Times are changing. All signs indicate that Africa is the new arena for experiments in the military industry, and it is there that we can see what military action across other theatres of conflict will soon look like. War is the same - but warfare is changing. Although the UN bans mercenary forces under some treaties, this too is changing. The data show that there are more mercenaries in Africa than anywhere else in the world. Some of them date back to colonial times such as Rhodesia. More at the link Related: Cabo Delgado: 2021-02-20 Mozambique: Terrorists Driven Back From Position in Mocimboa da Praia Cabo Delgado: 2021-02-12 Jihadist Attacks in Northern Mozambique Dwindling, Says Military Cabo Delgado: 2021-02-10 Mozambique: Terrorist Commanders Killed Related: Wagner Group: 2021-01-31 Police are hunting down anti-Putin protesters Wagner Group: 2020-11-23 Libya's Army under GNA depicts military mobilization for Haftar's forces in the east Wagner Group: 2020-07-20 GNA fighters sends vehicles to Sirte as Haftar forces clash with guards at oil facility Posted by: badanov 2021-02-23 |
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