Mozambique’s conflict and the question of foreign intervention

Attack on Palma has again increased pressure for more foreign military intervention, which Maputo has long resisted.

The bloody takeover late last month of Palma, a northern town at the centre of Mozambique’s vast oil and natural gas prospects, has again prompted international – and particularly regional – pressure to stem the violence. Attacks by an armed group known locally as al-Shabab, whose origins, analysts say, are steeped in local political, religious and economic discontent, have steadily increased in the Cabo Delgado province since October 2017. The sophistication of the attacks has increased, too.