Maputo, May 16, 2025 (Lusa) - The Russian oceanographic ship 'Atlântida' was fired upon offshore of Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, in an area where terrorist groups are still active, an official source from the Russian Embassy in Maputo confirmed on Friday.
According to the source, the 62-metre long ship, which was carrying out marine “research” work, was returning to the port of Maputo when, at around 3pm local time (2pm in Lisbon) on 10 May, it came under attack, more than three miles off the coast of the island of Tambuzi, in the Quirimbas archipelago.
"It was attacked by two unknown vessels, which did not come into contact with the ship, and opened fire on it," explained the source, stating that the author of the attack remains unknown.
The ship then headed for more distant waters, escaping the two vessels.
Local sources have already linked the incident to attacks by terrorist groups operating in the region and, if confirmed, it is the first of its kind.
The Mozambican authorities have yet to comment on the attack.
Mozambican researcher João Feijó told Lusa on Friday that the armed groups operating in the north of the country have ‘reorganised’ and are now focusing on attacks in areas with weak military protection, seeking to create an international impact.
"What the insurgency has done is avoid confronting their enemy [the military forces] where it is strongest, which is precisely where the Rwandan [troops] are, in Palma and Mocímboa da Praia, and reorganise itself where the enemy is weakest, which is the Mozambique armed forces [FADM]," said João Feijó, a researcher at the Rural Observatory (OMR), a Mozambican non-governmental organisation.
The researcher, who has several articles on the province of Cabo Delgado, in the north of the country, was speaking on the sidelines of a Congress of Civil Society Organisations, which is taking place at a time when there is an upsurge in attacks by groups associated with the Islamic State.
In 2024 alone, at least 349 people died in attacks by Islamic extremist groups in Cabo Delgado province, an increase of 36% on the previous year, according to data released by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, an academic institution of the US Department of Defence that analyses conflicts in Africa.
In addition to Cabo Delgado, which has been the scene of these attacks and terrorist movements since 2017, the neighbouring province of Niassa was also the scene of an attack in April by members of these groups, who beheaded two park rangers in the Niassa nature reserve.
According to Feijó, there is currently stability "within a radius of 50 kilometres" of the Afungi district, boosted by the protection of Rwandan troops and the implementation of TotalEnergies' Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) megaproject in the region, which the French multinational announced would resume in the middle of this year.
"Total has created a counter-insurgency project there, distributing resources to the population, buying the community's produce, providing jobs to alleviate some of the unemployment and monitoring the community. Rwanda speaks the local languages, treats the communities well, they're disciplined, they've managed to convince and have a good relationship with the public and they're effective at controlling the insurgency militarily," he explained.
"The insurgents are prepared for a long haul war, they are prepared to die in combat, it's a heroic act. This is a huge advantage over our troops, we have to demonstrate that we control the territory and that everything is under control, but our kids don't understand what they're doing there, they don't have the same motivation," he pointed out, recognising that these recent attacks are aimed above all at causing "international panic", as these are areas where foreign environmental investments and tourists are located.
PVJ/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
