Insurgency, Economy and Politics in Cabo Delgado

For the last nine years, Cabo Delgado has been engulfed in a violent terrorist insurgency led by the Islamic State in Mozambique. The conflict has already claimed more than 6,600 lives and sparked one of the largest humanitarian crises in Southern Africa, affecting hundreds of thousands of people and placing additional pressure on the province’s economic and social recovery efforts. Despite a military response from the Mozambican state and its regional and international partners, the military approach has not been able to quell the insurgency, as the latter remains driven by socio-economic and political challenges that remain unresolved. The present study investigates the current extent of the Cabo Delgado conflict, its recent developments on the battle ground, as well as main drivers of the insurgency.