#1 Wikipedia has a page on Islamic jihad in Mozambique, linked from their War on Terror master page. According to them, the Cabo Delgado province is jihad central for the country. The original miscreant group is Ansar al-Sunna (Supporters of the tradition), known formally as “Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jamo" (adepts of the prophetic tradition) and informally by the locals as Al Shabaab. Appearing in Mozambique in 2015, this particular Ansar al Sunna were originally followers of the radical Kenyan cleric Aboud Rogo, who was killed in 2012. As far as I can tell, they’re your standard takfiris, happily enforcing their Salafist rules on the surrounding populace. Apparently they hired members of Somali Al Shabaab to train them in the current skills of jihad, then split into various cells, Ansar al-Sunna funds itself through heroin, contraband and ivory trade.
ISIS appeared on the scene in 2019, claiming their first attack in June. It is possible they are just one of the Ansar al Sunnah cells, tarted up with a sexy name for marketing purposes. |