ISIS-aligned militants are escalating attacks in central and southern Africa, with reports of Christian beheadings, church and home burnings in Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) has sounded an alarm over a ‘silent genocide’ against Christians, citing recent atrocities including the killing of 49 Christians in a Congolese church massacre and the displacement of over 46,000 people in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province.
MEMRI’s Vice President Alberto Miguel Fernandez highlighted the danger posed by these jihadist groups, warning that their ability to take over multiple countries threatens national security. The United Nations migration agency reported the displacement of over 46,000 people in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, with nearly 60% being children. Despite these alarming statistics, the UN has been criticized for its lack of detailed information on casualties and specific targets.
The conflict in Mozambique, which has been ongoing for at least eight years, has led to the suspension of a $20 billion natural gas extraction project by French company TotalEnergies. Meanwhile, the Congolese army confirmed that attacks in the village of Komanda were carried out by the Allied Democratic Force, which is backed by the Islamic State and has sought to establish an Islamic caliphate in Uganda. These developments underscore the growing threat of jihadist ideology and the need for comprehensive counterterrorism strategies.
Doctors Without Borders has launched an emergency response to aid thousands of recently displaced people living in camps in the Chiure district. The jihadists have also been accused of beheading villagers and kidnapping children for use as laborers or child soldiers. The U.N. estimates that the violence, combined with the impact of drought and recent cyclones, has displaced over 1 million people in northern Mozambique.
Fernandez, a former U.S. diplomat, expressed his support for the Trump administration’s tough stance on jihadist terrorism but emphasized that Africa’s crises often receive less attention than those in the Middle East. He pointed to Trump’s role in brokering a ceasefire deal between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo as a step toward countering the jihadist threat. Fernandez warned that after the Islamic State’s defeat in the Middle East during Trump’s first term, its branches are now attempting to expand into weaker territories, creating a ‘whack-a-mole’ situation.
Fernandez suggested that defeating the Islamic State in Africa definitively would send a strong message that these groups do not have the ‘mandate of Allah,’ signaling their failure and loss. The growing threat of such groups not only endangers local populations but also has potential implications for global security, necessitating a renewed focus on counterterrorism efforts on the African continent.