Good afternoon. In Nigeria and Venezuela, the new year has been chimed in by the sound of US bombs, showing an interventionist turn in President Donald Trump’s foreign policy. In Mozambique, there is increasing speculation among observers of the political scene that US intervention could soon come to their country. Unlike in Nigeria and Venezuela, however, this would only be good news for the government and for ruling party Frelimo.
On 25 December, the US bombed sites in north-western Nigeria thought to be occupied by members of Lakurawa, a militant group linked to Islamic State (IS). Although the Nigerian government (which may or may not have been forced into accepting the strikes) denied that they were aimed at any religious group, Trump said that the IS-backed group was the target. Trump has also previously claimed that Christians are being persecuted in Nigeria, picking up a grievance made by the Christian right wing in America which forms part of his political base.
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Mozambique of course has its own IS-backed militant group, and evangelical movements in the US have been complaining that Christians are under siege there as well. Hence senior people in Frelimo along with other political commentators believe that a US strike against the insurgents in northern Mozambique could be on the table, although there is no hard evidence that an intervention is on the way. In theory, the US armed forces could use their extensive powers of surveillance, including intercepting communications, to track down the locations of insurgents hiding in the forest, enabling a precision bombardment.
