Monday, May 17, 2021

Long article about the circumstances leading up to the recent terrorist attack on Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado

From the start of the article:

On Monday, French energy giant Total declared force majeure on its multibillion-dollar light natural gas (LNG) project in northern Mozambique, formally withdrawing all of its employees from the region and indefinitely suspending its operations. The declaration came after heavily armed militants carried out a surprise attack on the nearby town of Palma, a commercial center in the northern coastal province of Cabo Delgado, in late March. Days of sustained fighting in the town took place just 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Total’s worksite, a $20 billion offshore LNG facility that is currently the largest foreign investment project in Africa.

The attack on Palma and Total’s subsequent retreat has brought a rush of attention to the growing insurgency in Cabo Delgado, where more than a century of neglect, corruption and abuse has accompanied the extraction of its abundance of lucrative natural resources.

...

Just hours before the attack on Palma, Total had announced it was resuming its operations after suspending them in January due to security concerns. Afterwards, the company said it would again halt work on the gas infrastructure, this time evacuating its entire staff.