Good afternoon. News that security forces have secured the town of Mucojo and its surrounding administrative post, in Cabo Delgado’s Macomia district, means that a significant advance has been made against the Islamic State-backed insurgents who previously controlled it (see our story below). It is impressive that the Rwandan forces, who led the attack and were joined by Mozambicans, have managed to do this only two months after taking over in the area; the regional force of the Southern African Development Community was not able to do it in three years. The insurgents did not actually occupy the town — they do not stay in towns, as a general rule, since this presents too much of a target — but were regularly going into it to buy, not steal, supplies; they had been making an effort to maintain good relations with the locals.
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Fernando Lima
The capture of Mucojo means that a travel corridor between the coast of Macomia district and the N380 highway, the major trunk road connecting the different parts of the province, has been severed. It could also potentially cut off the insurgents’ southward routes towards the border with Nampula province, and mean that the Montepuez-Pemba road which crosses one of those routes may finally be safe. However, that depends on whether the insurgents can be prevented from setting up bases in Quissanga district immediately to the south. Mozambican forces have been planning to set up a base in Quissanga, as President Filipe Nyusi announced previously.
