Tanzania’s security faces terrorism and extremism threats from multiple armed groups in the region, according to the country’s military. Islamist groups like the eastern DR Congo-based ADF and the Somalia-based Al-Shabab have been reported to recruit from Tanzania.
The issue was pointed out, on Monday, January 22, by the Chief of Defence Forces of Tanzania People's Defence Force (TPDF), Gen Jacob Mkunda, who said the youth are the major target.
"The security situation in the country is generally peaceful, except for the threats, especially the threat of terrorism and extremist ideology,” said Mkunda at a meeting of TPDF high command chaired by President Samia Suluhu in Dar es Salaam.
The terrorist’s network has been identifying Tanzanians aged between 15 and 35 and taking them to join terrorist groups in DR Congo, Mozambique and Somalia, Mkunda said, noting that the terrorist threat was growing.
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Mozambique’s northernmost province of Cabo Delgado, which borders Tanzania, was destabilized by Islamic State-linked terrorists called Ansar al-Sunnah wal Jama’a, since 2017. Before July 2021, when Rwanda deployed troops to Cabo Delgado, the terrorists had killed more than 4,000 civilians and displaced hundreds of thousands in the coastal region.
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The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), or Madina at Tauheed wal Mujahedeen (MTM) militia group, on the other hand, is a group of Ugandan origin that is equally destructive. In March 2021, the US listed it as a terrorist group that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS). It is responsible for many attacks across DR Congo’s North Kivu and Ituri Provinces.
The ADF and Somali outfit Al-Shabab have previously reported to be recruiting from Tanzania. The ADF is accused of killing dozens of Congolese civilians. In December 2023, the group killed two tourists and their guide in Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park.
In February 2022, the Congolese armed forces arrested Tanzanian ADF members in North Kivu Province.