ISIS threat on the rise, prompting US to deploy special operation forces to new count

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ISIS threat on the rise, prompting US to deploy special operation forces to new country
By: Michael Lee - Washington Examiner News - 03-16-21
Re: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/n...s-threat-rises

U.S. special operations troops have deployed to Mozambique on a mission to assist the country’s counterterrorism forces with the growing threat of Islamic State militants.

“The United States is committed to supporting Mozambique with a multifaceted and holistic approach to counter and prevent the spread of terrorism and violent extremism,” the U.S. Embassy in Maputo said. “This approach addresses socioeconomic development issues as well as the security situation.”

The move comes as violence has spread across the African country, with over 670,000 people displaced so far by ISIS attacks centered around the mainly Muslim Cabo Delgado province.

The U.S. military’s involvement in the conflict will focus on training Mozambican marines in an attempt to “prevent the spread of terrorism and violent extremism.” Americans will also provide medical and communications equipment to the country.

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What was once a modest insurgency in isolated pockets of the country in 2017 has grown into a bigger problem, escalating over the last two years as the insurgency aligned itself with the central ISIS network. By May of 2020, the violence escalated to mass beheadings as militants from overseas poured in to assist with equipment and logistical support.

Militants have also succeeded in recruiting locals to their cause, growing the strength of their military capabilities over the last year as they continue to seek more ambitious military targets.

“It is a significant threat from a terrorism point of view, whatever its origins,” said Nathan Sales, the U.S. special envoy to the global coalition against the Islamic State. “It is now a committed ISIS enterprise that is using violence to gain, and in some cases maintain control over, territory.”

The State Department has now designated the militants, and a similar ISIS affiliate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, foreign terrorist groups.

The Mozambique group has launched a series of “large scale and sophisticated attacks,” the State Department said, capturing the strategically important port of Mocimboa da Praia near the border with Tanzania in August.

The growing threat led the Mozambican government to ask for international support, a plea originally answered by Russia’s state-sponsored Wagner Group. But the Russian-backed fighters led a mostly unsuccessful campaign in the country, something Rand Corporation security experts Molly Dunigan and Ben Connable see as an opportunity for U.S. forces to improve upon.

“In Mozambique, Wagner mercenaries stumbled through the kinds of partner-building efforts at which U.S. special operations forces tend to excel,” the Rand experts said. “They offended the locals and reportedly double-crossed allies to make money. Islamic State insurgents have successfully attacked and killed them on poorly secured roads.”

The U.S. has so far remained silent on what will follow the intended two-month mission in the African country, but the embassy suggested there could be more counterterrorism support assistance in the future.

Note: The Department of Defense did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment on the mission, including how many troops were being deployed and if those troops will be in direct combat roles.

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Personal note: Another match is lit - and it goes on and on!
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