A faction of the terrorist group ISIS has claimed credit online for several recent attacks on camps in Northern Mozambique’s Niassa Reserve, causing the US State Department to issue a Level 4 Do Not Travel Alert for specific districts of Cabo Delgado and Nampula Provinces. The rest of Mozambique remains on a Level 3 Alert to Reconsider Travel.

 

SCI confirmed the attack took place April 29 at the headquarters of the Niassa Carnivore Project (NCP) and their Mariri Environmental and Skills Training Center in the southeastern section of the Niassa Special Reserve. In a press release, NCP Director Dr. Colleen Begg confirmed two NCP antipoaching scouts were killed. Another was severely injured but was evacuated to a hospital in Maputo and is now stable. Two scouts remain unaccounted for.

 

Residents of the nearby village Mbamba also fled into the bush for safety. Begg said the NCP team spent several days searching for staff and community members hiding in the wilderness and taking them to the district capital, Mecula.

 

In April, SCI reported the destruction of the Kambo Safaris camp in the Reserve by a group of armed insurgents, with later reports about the deaths of two staff members. The incident triggered a Security Alert from the US State Department warning travelers of terrorist activity. It was not until April 30, that ISIS Mozambique took credit for the attacks in a social media post by Amaq News Agency, which is designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the US State Department.

 

Amaq is often the first venue to publicize claims of responsibility for terrorist attacks conducted by the Islamic State. According to media outlet CAXTON Network News, a loose translation of text published with the image says, “The fighters of the Islamic State attacked and burned a tourist site belonging to the Christians and killed six soldiers from the Mozambican army in Niassa Province, Northern Mozambique.”

 

The Level 4 Travel Alert from the US State Department states, “Terrorists continue to conduct and plot attacks on government forces, villages, and key supply routes in the districts of Ancuabe, Chuire, Ibo, Macombia, Meluco, Metuge, Mocimboa da Praia, Mueda, Muidame, Nangade, Palma and Quissanga in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, and the bordering districts of Memba and Erati in Nampula Province.

 

According to Begg, the ANAC warden of Niassa Special Reserve is coordinating efforts to increase safety in Niassa and is working with conservation partners on the ground. SCI will continue following developments here and reporting to members as we confirm information.

 

SCI expresses its deepest sympathies for the families and coworkers of those who lost their lives in these senseless acts. SCI members with hunts booked in Mozambique and with concerns over security are again encouraged to speak with their safari operators about security in their areas and to orient themselves on the locations of their hunting camp and its distance from the affected regions in northern Mozambique before changing any plans. Hunters should also review their travel insurance policies and consider security evacuation insurance. US citizens should enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive alerts and make it easier to locate you in an emergency. Other members should check their country’s state department equivalent for travel alerts and travel programs.

 

For more information and assistance contact SCI’s Hunter Information Service at HunterHotline@safariclub.org.