The Attorney General’s Office (PGR) of Mozambique published today a list of individuals indicted on suspicion of supporting terrorism in Cabo Delgado province.
The list contains the names of 15 men and 1 woman, mostly from the districts of Palma and Mocímboa da Praia, who are accused of crimes ranging from providing food to insurgents to being an active member of Islamic State Mozambique (ISM) and participating in the killing of civilians.
Most of the suspects are farmers, fishermen or merchants but one Palma resident was allegedly a former police officer, assigned to the Rapid Intervention Unit, and is believed to have been an insurgent member since 2018 and participated in the attack on Palma in March 2021.
The one woman on the list was allegedly a Tanzanian national who joined Islamic State in Tanzania in October 2020 and provided domestic services in insurgent camps in Palma and Mocímboa da Praia districts.
Several others were accused of recruiting insurgents. One of the suspects, another Tanzanian national nicknamed ‘Big Ally’, was alleged to have hired someone to recruit 30 women and 20 men by claiming to represent an unnamed international organisation and promising them MZN1m ($15,602) each. The man he hired also appears on the list.
One Mozambican from Palma allegedly joined the insurgency after his wife and daughter were captured by the insurgents in February 2021 and worked as a teacher and driver. He was eventually captured and detained in Mieze prison where he tried to recruit other inmates.
The list specifies that at least eight of the suspects have already been detained. One has already been sentenced - a fisherman from Mocímboa da Praia who served as an insurgent camp sentry. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2023 for terrorism, membership of a terrorist organisation, criminal association and aggravated robbery.
A source in the Office for Financial Intelligence, responsible for combating money laundering, told Zitamar News that the PGR has published this list to demonstrate Mozambique is taking action against terrorism financing and it should therefore be taken off the ‘grey list’ of countries under monitoring by the Financial Action Task Force.
