The food crisis in Kabo Delkato has intensified the war in Ukraine, where people have been unable to cultivate their land for years, leading to dozens of hungry rebels fleeing the bush and surrendering. Others focus on attacking Machambas – farms with subsistence farming – and small villages, instead of carrying out attacks on the military, stealing food or beheading their regular terrorist campaigns. Many jihadists joined local communities. And some have fled and hid in the villages where they grew up, harassing the military and neighbors, fearing revenge for the crimes they have committed.
However, Jo இந்தo Feijó, a researcher at the Observatório do Meio Rural (OMR) in Sunrise, warns that “this shortage has caused widespread hunger.” Food crisis The cost of such an operation with hundreds or thousands of soldiers is enormous. Must have a large logistics machine, not capable of that. The VoA said the news of the wave of surrenders, which saw nearly half a hundred insurgents – mostly young and inexperienced – lay down their arms simultaneously last week, may seem encouraging at first. But the sociologist insists that “everyone is hungry.”
“The situation is dire,” admits Omar’s Omar, a correspondent for Carta de Mogambique, who did extensive work on the war in Cabo Delcado.
“This has even led to the emergence of gangs of criminals from Pemba. There are many people who have had to leave their land where production has stopped. Has fallen into grace. Two years ago, a Mozambican court, which heard reports of police extorting money from local vendors, convicted him of disobedience and reduced his 15-day sentence to a fine equivalent to 185 euros under pressure from international organizations.
Omar believes the food crisis in Kabo Delkato is dependent on humanitarian aid and is deteriorating, and “has a direct impact on what is happening in Ukraine.” “In Mozambique, the prices of all food items have exploded. The five-liter bottle of oil we buy for 500 medics a month ago [7,3 euros] Or 800 Medicoys [11,7 euros]Depending on the quality, it now costs at least a thousand medics [14,6 euros]», Refers to one of Ukraine’s major exports, known for its extensive fields of sunflower.
“If it is felt in the capital, which is easily accessible, in circulation by the country’s presidents and headquartered by large corporations, add the cost of transporting these products to Cabo Delco, which is almost three thousand kilometers away. The situation is deplorable,” the journalist explains.
“The World Food Program continues to call for support for the situation in Cabo Delgado, but it will be difficult in this war in Ukraine, especially as Mozambique is struggling with natural disasters. Created an avalanche of population “.
Fight for food
Among the testimonies of victims who were enslaved by the rebels in Kabo Delgado, and those who have been able to escape from them in recent weeks, are the stories of famine on the sites of this group that has vowed allegiance to the Islamic State. Sometimes there was only food once a day. And they ate only what they could steal in the bush. We’re talking about coconuts, porridge, pickles, wild fruits, roots, tubers, pumpkins, whatever, ”says Jono Fijo.
The impact of the invasion of the Ukrainian Kabo Delkado, rather than the rise in wheat and oil prices, could be a major challenge for organizations such as the World Food Program in providing humanitarian assistance.
Although what came to the province were mainly corn, rice and beans, international companies have seen their budgets spent on other theaters, and more and more donors are sending their funds to Ukraine. The insurgents are suffering because of their reliance on the theft of humanitarian aid – “their attacks were accidental at times when they learned that new food aid had arrived in Mozambique da Praya, Makomiya or Palma.” Sociologist says – and products derived from their secret networks in cities like Pemba.
“Rising wheat prices are affecting the urban population. But the rural people do not have bread as their main source of food, they mainly eat maize or manioc. Full of food for sea animals.
“There was a lot of trade between the coast and the interior, but the war broke these economic ties,” the sociologist notes. “It’s not going to happen. You can only fish almost on the islands. Some on the beach are brave or have no other choice.
However, the activities of Mozambican forces and their international partners also play an important role in the famine that is hitting Kabo Delkato’s jihadists, Omar’s Omar notes. “One of the military group’s biggest victories was cutting the insurgency’s logistics base to a certain extent,” he explains. Army personnel have set up more and more checkpoints to block supplies south of the neighboring province of Nambula or Pemba. In the north, on the Roma River, which separates Mozambique from Tanzania, forces deployed by the South African Development Society (SADC) are determined to prevent insurgents from jumping from one country to another at will.
“Rwandans are in Palma and Mogimbova da Bria,” he said, referring to some of the most controversial areas with jihadists, the journalist calculated. Not surprisingly, they were handed over into the hands of the Rwandan military, known as one of the most talented in sub-Saharan Africa, but also for their brutality, accustomed to guerrilla warfare in the jungles of the Democratic Republic of Congo. “South Africans are more inclined towards mahogany,” Omar continues. “Botswana is in Muda and Tanzania is on the sidewalk between Muda and Rouma, but also in Mytumbe.” Looking at the map, it appears that he is describing a siege in the Nangade district near the border with the most armed clashes last week, recorded by the Mozambican Conflict Observatory.
Feijó, on the other hand, points out that despite the exodus of famine, they have nothing to do with affecting the hard core of the jihadists. “These groups have a military-style hierarchy, they have senior commanders and officers, they can be called highly internationalized, Mozambicans or foreigners, especially Tanzanians. The sociologist insists.
“Surrenders, of course, are in the lower ranks. They do not join much for ideological reasons, when they are abducted or forced to join a group for money. They always evaluate the benefits of being there. Not now,” he considers. “Because, inside, resources, plunder and food are distributed in direct proportion to the hierarchy.”
In other words, even if some Mozambican leaders begin to hear talk of an end to the uprising, it may be too early. “In a guerrilla war, the number of troops increases and decreases depending on the logistics,” Fijo recalled. “It is like what happened to Frelimo during the national liberation struggle. Free limo numbers increased or decreased depending on the pressure of the colonial state. Many spread among the people.
In fact, from the point of view of this sociologist, most of the starving rebels will not surrender and will try to hide or mix with the people until the next time they are armed. “They are very afraid that they will be tortured and killed if they surrender. They know the consequences because they know very well what they did,” Fijo explains. Emphasizes that most of the rebels have chosen to mix with the people. There are many reports that “the fugitives went to Pemba, Montebus or Nambula and found those in the camps identified in these cities, but at some point they thought it would be better to flee.” .
As for those in the bush, in the geographical province that every guerrilla dreams of, it is not easy to drive them out. “If you search the internet, you will find many blogs and pages of ex-colonial military fighters who know the terrain well,” Fijo suggests. “They talk a lot about the Serra to Map in Mahomey, where the colonial army suffered many casualties and difficulties facing the current troops. .Because most likely not because they are not from there and neither are the Rwandans.
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