This dyad belongs to the conflict Mozambique: Government

Summary of conflict Mozambique: Government

The conflict in Mozambique was fought over government power, which was assumed after independence in 1975 by Frelimo (Frente de libertação de Moçambique; Front for the Liberation of Mozambique). From 1977 until a peaceful resolution was reached in 1992, the government faced armed opposition by Renamo (Resistência nacional Moçambicana; Mozambican National Resistance). Occasional violence has broken out since, most noticeably with the conflict becoming active at a low level of intensity in 2013 and 2016. A new peace treaty was signed in August 2019.

In 2018, a group called Ansar al-Sunnah became active with the aim to establish Islamic governance in Mozambique. The group was mainly involved in one-sided attacks on villages in Cabo Delgado province in northern Mozambique during 2018, but increasingly also targeted the security forces in 2019. On 24 July 2019, Ansar al-Sunnah swore allegiance to the Islamic State (IS). Attacks by Ansar al-Sunnah after this date are therefore part of the territorial conflict Mozambique: Islamic State, ending the conflict over government in Mozambique.

The conflict with IS in the north gave rise to a local self-defence militia called Naparama. Relations between the government and Naparama deteriorated badly during the protest movement against electoral fraud that began in October 2024. Many Naparama supported the opposition presidential candidate, Venâncio Mondlane, against the Frelimo government, and some members of the movement were shot or arrested during the crackdown of the protests, sparking violent retaliation by Naparama militias. The clashes reignited the conflict over government in 2025, which hadn't been active since ASWJ pledged allegiance to IS in 2019.

Mozambique’s independence and the beginning of the conflict

Present-day Mozambique came under Portuguese control in the 19th century and became a Portuguese “overseas province” in 1951. About ten years later, in 1962, nationalist groups united in Frelimo (Frente de libertação de Moçambique; Front for the Liberation of Mozambique), which was to fight a bloody war for independence against Portugal over the next decade. The group was led by Dr Eduardo Mondlande until his death in 1969, when he was replaced by Samora Machel. Frelimo’s armed branch was called FPLM (Forças Populares de Libertação de Moçambique; Popular Forces for the Liberation of Mozambique). Using classic anti-colonial guerrilla warfare, Frelimo mainly operated from bases within Tanzania and in northern Mozambique, politicising the rural population in the process.

After a coup in Portugal in 1974, the colonial power made a hasty exit from Mozambique. However, before doing so, the Portuguese requested for elections to be held. The request was rejected by Frelimo, which established itself as the government and sole legal political party in the independent Mozambique. Frelimo had from the outset been a socialist movement, and in 1977 it declared itself to be a "Marxist-Leninist vanguard party". In the early years, the party enjoyed widespread popular support. However, this support quickly decreased as a number of unpopular programs and policies were introduced. The initiation of one specific policy, called the "socialisation of the countryside", which promoted collective agriculture, prohibited traditional beliefs and ceremonies, stripped tribal kings of their powers and closed down church-run social projects, succeeded in antagonising most of the peasantry.

On the regional level, Mozambiques independence threatened the white regimes in both Rhodesia and South Africa, since the new, Marxist, government openly supported Rhodesian rebel group ZANU (Zimbabwe African National Union) and South Africa’s ANC (African National Congress). Subsequently, the white regime in Rhodesia set about to assist the creation of a counter-revolutionary force, and was in this endeavour able to exploit the public disaffection with Frelimo, which was rampant through much of the Mozambican countryside. People willing to fight the new government were also drawn from FPLM deserters and from re-education camps in northern Mozambique, where dissidents within and without the Frelimo movement were sent. Furthermore, former Portugese army elements were among the early members of this opposition movement, some of them recruited by the threat that their past occupation would otherwise be revealed to Frelimo leaders. In November 1976, the radio station “Voz da Africa Livre” (Voice of Free Africa), transmitting from Rhodesia, announced that conditions had been created to wage a military campaign against the government in the form of Renamo (Resistência nacional Moçambicana; Mozambican National Resistance). In late 1976 or early 1977 - reports diverge - the first attacks were carried out in Mozambique.

International support, internal dynamics and evolution of the war

Beginning in 1977 and through the following 16 years, Mozambique was embroiled in a brutal civil war. During the whole conflict, the warring parties remained the same, with fighting taking place between the Frelimo (Frente de libertação de Moçambique; Front for the Liberation of Mozambique) government and the Renamo (Resistência nacional Moçambicana; Mozambican National Resistance) rebels. The Frelimo government maintained a clear Marxist-Leninist stance during the early years of the war. However, following a deep structural crisis in the early 1980s, the Frelimo government sought to improve its relations with the west. It applied to join the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and in 1987 an economic recovery programme was launched, aiming to through wide-ranging policy reforms move away from socialist central planning towards a free market economy. In 1989 the party renounced its Marxist-Leninist orientation. Throughout the conflict, the Mozambican army constantly outnumbered Renamo, and during the last years of the conflict it numbered between 30 000 and 60 000.

Renamo, for its part, lacked coherence and did not have any clear ideology beyond its hostility to Frelimo. The group was made up of Frelimo dissidents, dissatisfied Mozambican civilians and former Portugese army elements, with the sole common denominator being opposition to Frelimo rule. However, given Rhodesias support from the outset of the conflict, its strength grew during the late 1970s and bases were established inside Mozambique. The rebel group was initially led by André Matsangaissa, who was killed and replaced by Afonso Dhlakama in 1979. Following Rhodesias independence in 1980 and the rise to power of a government friendly towards Frelimo, sponsorship of Renamo was taken over by South Africa. South Africa, as had been the case with Rhodesia, felt threatened by black left-wing rule in Mozambique and other southern African states, and saw Renamo as a potential vehicle for destabilisation of Mozambique and a tool for fighting anti-apartheid groups. Consequently, Renamo bases were relocated to Transvaal in northeast South Africa, and Pretoria took over the role of training and equipping the rebels. With South African support, the movement gained strength and quickly expanded from some 500 fighters to a force of around 8000. The growth was fuelled by popular dissatisfaction with the Frelimo government, but also to a large extent by forced conscription. Rather than attempting to mobilise popular support, Renamo mainly relied on force and intimidation to control the population. During the 1980s, the number of Renamo troops continued to grow, and in 1992 the rebel movement was estimated to include around 21 000 fighters.

Given the origins of Renamo, it is obvious that the level of foreign involvement was substantial in the Mozambican conflict. Apart from the direct Rhodesian and South African involvement, Renamo also received support from Kenya, Portugal (principally the Portuguese who had fled the country in 1975 and settled in South Africa) and an international network of right-wing political and religious groups. The government also received outside support. The liberated Rhodesia, now renamed Zimbabwe, became increasingly involved in the conflict during the 1980s. In 1981, Zimbabwe and Mozambique signed a defence agreement, which, in 1982, led to the deployment of a Zimbabwean special task force in the country. The task forces main objective was to guard the Beira corridor, Zimbabwes link to the Indian Ocean. During the following years, the number of Zimbabwean troops in the country increased and the government came to rely on these more effective forces in their struggle against Renamo. During the last years of the conflict, there were around 12 000 Zimbabwean troops active in Mozambique. Between 1986 and 1988, Tanzania also stationed troops in the country in support of the government. Apart from this direct military involvement, military training as well as weapons and other logistic support was provided by a number of states. Until the abortive coup in Moscow in August 1991, which signed the USSRs death warrant, the Soviet Union, together with other east block countries constituted the Mozambican governments main backers. However, from the mid-1980s, military aid was also forthcoming from a number of western countries, of which the United Kingdom was the leading one.

Following its outbreak in late 1976 or early 1977, the civil war lasted for 16 years, and was distinguished by its brutality. Out of a population between 10 and 15 million, more than 1,5 million people fled to neighbouring states, and twice that number were displaced internally. By 1988, more than 2,5 million people were starving. Militarily, Renamo concentrated its attacks on the symbols of Frelimos achievements, such as schools, health centres and social projects, and acquired a reputation for brutality, including mass murders of civilians as well as mutilations. Once South Africa took over sponsorship of the movement, it utilised it for its policy of maximum economic disruption, by urging Renamo to attack lines of communication, a policy that turned out to be very successful. Throughout the 1980s, Renamo expanded its scope of operation and by the second half of 1984 the movement was active in all ten provinces of the country. During 1987-1989, Renamo activity reached its peak. Half of the Frelimo army was disintegrated and the government had lost control over large parts of the country. However, the Zimbabwean and Tanzanian troop presence helped the army withstand Renamos onslaught. With help from these two states, Mozambican counterinsurgency operations in the late 1980s scored important successes and on several occasions captured Renamo’s headquarters.

Resolution attempts and peace at last

There were a number of failed attempts to resolve the conflict between the government of Mozambique and Renamo (Resistência nacional Moçambicana; Mozambican National Resistance) during the 1980s. The conflict was strongly tied to regional relations, and a notable step came when Mozambique and South Africa signed the Nkomati Accord in 1984, a non-aggression pact in which South Africa agreed to stop supporting Renamo in return for restrictions on ANC (African National Congress, which fought the South African apartheid regime) activities in Mozambique. However, while Mozambique appears to have honoured the agreement, arms and other support continued to flow from South Africa to Renamo. Later in 1984, talks between the government and Renamo were held under South African auspices. The talks culminated in a peace process agreement on 3 October, by which the parties agreed on the principles of the resolution process and on a ceasefire, and that negotiations would continue on outstanding issues. However, the peace process soon collapsed, and the war continued.

At the beginning of the 1990s, circumstances were more conducive to reaching a peaceful resolution. In the late 1980s, global and regional developments decreased the flow of support for the war, and the former supporters started to put strong pressure on the parties to reach a negotiated settlement. Thus, concrete and direct talks started in July 1990. The talks were hosted by the Saint Egidio community, a Catholic non-government organisation based in Rome, and mediated by two representatives from this community together with Italian politicians and the bishop of Beira, Mozambique.

During the following two years, 12 rounds of negotiations were held. During the third and the fourth rounds, a partial ceasefire in the Beira and Limpopo transport corridors was reached. It was also stipulated that the Zimbabwean troops were to be confined to these areas. In October 1992, the 12th round of negotiations was completed and a comprehensive peace agreement, the “Acordo Geral de Paz”, was signed. The accord provided for a general ceasefire to come into force immediately after the ratification of the treaty by the Assembly of the Republic. A 30 000-strong national defence force was to be created, drawing on equal numbers from each side, while the remaining troops would surrender their weapons within six months to a UN peacekeeping force which would be deployed following the agreement. Renamo would transform into a political party, and presidential and legislative elections were to take place under UN supervision one year after the signing of the AGP, provided that the agreement had been fully implemented and the demobilisation process completed.

The UN peacekeeping force, ONUMOZ (United Nations Operations in Mozambique), was approved by a Security Council vote on 16 December 1992. It was authorised to comprise about 7500 troops, police and civilian personnel. In 1993 the Mission deployed 6500 troops and military observers. A Supervisory and Monitoring Commission was established to oversee the implementation of the peace agreement and to settle new disputes. The Commission consisted of the UN mission, the government, Renamo, Italy, France, Germany, Portugal, the UK the USA and the OAU. Demobilization started in 1994. Some 70 000 FAM (Forcas Armadas de Mocambique; Armed Forces of Mozambique) soldiers and 20 000 Renamo combatants were demobilised, and a new restructured national army, FADM (Armed Defence Forces of Mozambique) created from remaining army and Renamo elements. The first multiparty elections were held in October 1994. On the eve of the elections, Renamo threatened to boycott the poll, claiming irregularities, but were brought back into fold following an intervention by South African president Nelson Mandela. Despite Renamo’s actions, voting proceeded as planned and without any major incidents. Frelimo (Frente de libertação de Moçambique; Front for the Liberation of Mozambique) won the elections and remained in power, while Renamo finished second with about a third of the votes. The mandate of ONUMOZ formally came to an end on 9 December 1994, and the mission was fully disbanded at the end of January 1995.

2013- A return to arms

Twenty years after the Rome agreements, tensions between the Government of Mozambique and Renamo were reignited, as Afonso Dhlakama, long-time leader of Renamo, withdrew from political life. This was followed by the re-establishment of a Renamo base in the remote jungles of the Sofala area of the country, followed by the remobilization of the Renamo Presidential Guard, the last armed remnant of the group, and by a series of threats issued to the government. Renamo accused the Frelimo-run authorities of breaking the 1992 peace agreement through rigging elections, establishing unfair electoral laws and harassing Renamo members. External analysts, however, point to Renamos vanishing relevance on the national political scene - in the 2009 elections, Renamo only obtained 51 seats in parliament versus 191 for incumbent and former rival Frelimo, losing more than half of its popular support within a decade. With this waning political support came losses of power and of important revenue streams for the party, Renamo quickly becoming poor and irrelevant - in a time when the country experienced some of the highest economic growth in the world. Moreover, in 2009, Renamo lost control over the cities of Beira and Quelimane, two of Mozambiques largest cities, to a splinter group, the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM). In fact, Dhlakama indicated this loss of economic opportunities himself, saying that he would "prefer a poor country than to have people eating from our pot", blaming Frelimos actions for Renamos downfall.

The trigger that sparked the actual violence was a police raid on Renamos party headquarters in Muxunge town in early April 2013. The raid was conducted as Renamo was thought to offer illegal military training in the area. A series of skirmishes ensued, Renamos main strategy being to block the main North-South routes (the EN1 trunk road and the Beira - Tete railway) in an attempt to limit the mining operations at Tete and force the government to settle. Tactics included attacks on government posts (such as railway stations, health centers etc) and on vehicles (mainly trucks and busses) in the remote Sofala - Gorongosa area of the country.

Multiple rounds of negotiations were conducted between the two parties, the government demanding that all Renamo troops lay down their weapons and Dhlakama return to the capital whereas Renamo demanding the withdrawal of government troops from the main Renamo stronghold, the Gorongosa area, a new electoral law increasing Renamos importance and influence in setting up future elections, a share of the mineral revenues and better representation within the armed forces.

The talks collapsed by early August (even though most Renamo MPS continued to attend the meetings of the Parliament) with Renamo choosing to boycott the local elections in November, prompting an increase in the intensity of fighting. Further, in the end of October, the army attacked and captured the main Renamo bases at Satunjira and Maringue, forcing Dhlakama to withdraw to an undisclosed location in the jungle and declare the 1992 peace agreement in Rome as void. Afterwards, violence did not intensify to previous levels, but skirmishes, road block and ambushes and small scale attacks continued until August 2014, when a new ceasefire was agreed upon. The conflict was active above the 25 battle-related deaths threshold in 2013 and in 2016, after the ceasefire collapsed again in 2015. A new ceasefire was agreed upon in December 2016. The ceasefire remained in place throughout 2018, despite the death of Dhlakama from natural causes in May 2018.

Negotiations continued between the new leader of Renamo, Ossufo Momade, and the President of Mozambique Filipe Nyusi. On 6 August 2019 the parties signed the National Peace and Reconciliation Agreement, formally stipulating an end to the conflict. Parts of Renamo's military wing rejected Ossufo Momade leading the negotiations however, and announced their splinter from Renamo as the Renamo Military Junta under the leadership of General Mariano Nhongo, chief of the armed wing of Renamo, on 12 June 2019. The group threatened the government with war unless it negotiated with them rather than with Momade, and began small scale ambushes of military and civilian vehicles around the Gorongosa area. These attacks did not reach 25 battle-related deaths in 2019 or 2020, however.

The emergence of Ansar al-Sunnah

In October 2017, a police station in Mocimboa da Praia, Cabo Delgado, was attacked by a previously unknown group that called itself Ansar al-Sunnah (Supporters of the Tradition). It was also known as Ahlu al-Sunna wa Jamaa and locally as al-Shabaab. Cabo Delgado was one of Mozambique's least developed and poorest provinces, despite a vast wealth in rubies and hydrocarbons. It was also one of only two provinces with a Muslim majority in the mainly Catholic country. It was where the independence war against Portugal had first taken off, leading to many of Frelimo's top cadres being from the region's Makonde ethnic group, including the current president Filipe Nyusi. As a result, the local party elite was largely Catholic and Makonde. Left with little oversight from the distant capital, located in the far south of Mozambique, they proceeded to enrich themselves, often by gaining control of logging and mining activities through state contacts. This has caused tensions with the regions other major ethnic groups, the Mwani and Makua, both of which are majority Muslim in Cabo Delgado. Tensions increased after 2009, as these groups had seen little of the proceeds from the large discoveries of ruby and gas deposits in areas mainly inhabited by these groups, and at times suffered from displacement and lost livelihoods from the projects.

Ansar al-Sunnah was reportedly formed in 2015 by disgruntled Mwani Salafi Muslims as a religious movement that rejected local mosques as having degenerated from the original teachings of Islam, and rejecting their ties to the state. As it began its insurgency, it claimed to fight to establish a government with basis in the Koran in Mozambique. Ansar al-Sunnah reportedly had links with other fundamentalist groups in Tanzania, Kenya and DR Congo, with some of its members having received military training in these areas. Most members of the group belonged to the local Mwani and Makua communities, though there has later been reports of a sizable contingent of foreign fighters, especially Tanzanians. Tanzanians have widely been reported to have heavily featured among the groups leaders, often thought to mainly be former members of a militant group that Tanzanian authorities cracked down on in Kibiti district in 2017, causing many of its members to flee to Cabo Delgado and join the insurgency there.

During 2018 Ansar al-Sunnah operated in small cells in the northernmost province of Mozambique, Cabo Delgado, mostly engaging in attacks on civilian targets using knives and machetes, and occasionally raiding small government outposts. The conflict passed above the 25 battle-related deaths threshold for the first time in 2018, and continued to escalate during 2019. Ansar al-Sunnah gradually became more sophisticated, better armed and more willing to attack government positions, causing the security situation in Cabo Delgado to steadily worsen in 2019. The attacks also came to encompass a larger area, having originally focused mainly on small clusters of villages along the coast of northern Cabo Delgado, they spread further inland, even hitting the non-coastal districts of Muidumbe and Meluco.

The police were originally the main government fighting force in Cabo Delgado, with the counterinsurgency effort led by the Rapid Intervention Unit (UIR). The army has often been seen as unreliable by Frelimo officials, due to large portions of it being made up of former Renamo militants since the 1992 peace agreement. It has therefore suffered from being underfunded for several decades. Internal divisions in the security forces between the army and the UIR have hampered its response to the insurgency.

On 24 July 2019, Ansar al-Sunnah reportedly swore allegiance to the Islamic State (IS). Attacks by Ansar al-Sunnah after this date are therefore part of the territorial conflict Mozambique: Islamic State. The conflict over government in Mozambique was therefore no longer active in 2020.

Anti government protests and conflict with Naparama, 2024-2025

The spread of IS into southern Cabo Delgado and the adjacent province of Nampula gave rise to a village self-defense militia, acting outside of government supervision, called the Naparama, which has fought IS since November 2022. The group is unified in its rituals of "vaccination", which is said to make its members immune to bullets. It draws its inspiration from a movement of the same name that was active in the early 1990s, during the conflict with Renamo. Unlike the pro-government militias known as the Local Forces, which largely consist of Frelimo veterans and are drawn from ethnic groups with close ties to the Frelimo elite, the Naparama appears to have emerged independently from the state, as a direct result of the state's inability to provide security. Relations between the government and Naparama deteriorated badly during the protest movement against electoral fraud that began in October 2024. Many Naparama supported the opposition presidential candidate, Venâncio Mondlane, against the Frelimo government, and some members of the movement were shot or arrested during the crackdown of the protests, sparking violent retaliation by Naparama militias.

In late December, a supposed commander of the Naparama declared his intention to go to Maputo to "wage war" until the newly appointed president, Daniel Chapo, stepped down and handed the victory to Venâncio Mondlane. Clashes erupted in February 2025, as Naparama militias stormed the local administrations in several rural areas in Nampula and Zambezia, in several cases forcing the local government and security forces to withdraw from the locality. Naparama attacks appeared to cease after an agreement was reached between Mondlane and Chapo for compensation for victims of state violence in March. Another round of fighting occurred in April as police and military forces struck back against the Naparama that had established some degree of territorial control over some localities, reestablishing government authority. Fighting slowed down considerable afterwards, with both sides appearing somewhat hesitant to provoke further violence. The clashes reignited the conflict over government, which hadn't been active since ASWJ pledged allegiance to IS in 2019.