The Diplomat
The Spanish government yesterday expressed its condemnation of the latest attack perpetrated in the city of Palma, in the province of Cabo Delgado, in northern Mozambique, allegedly carried out by jihadist terrorists.
The terrorist attack, which began on Wednesday afternoon, was still ongoing yesterday and represents, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “a real qualitative leap in the terrorist threat in that province”.
In the communiqué, Spain also expresses its concern over the evolution of the situation in Mozambique and states that it is ‘closely following the evolution of events, in coordination with the Mozambican authorities, both in Maputo and in Pemba, the United Nations, the EU and other member countries’.
In addition, the Spanish Executive conveys its solidarity to the Government of Mozambique, presided over by Filipe Nyusi, and to the Mozambican people, especially to the citizens of Cabo Delgado, who have been suffering for more than three years the consequences of a conflict that has already caused more than 2,000 victims and 650,000 displaced persons.
Since October 2017, the province has been the scene of attacks by Islamist militiamen known as Al Shabaab, unrelated to the group of the same name operating in Somalia, which has links to Al Qaeda. Since mid-2019 they have been mostly claimed by Islamic State in Central Africa (ISCA), which has stepped up its actions since March 2020.
Diplomatic sources recently acknowledged to Europa Press that there is a “real risk” that the conflict will not only spread to other regions of Mozambique, such as Nampula and Niassa, where terrorists are already recruiting, but also to neighbouring Tanzania, where in October there was an attack that killed around twenty people.
