In Mozambique, an ISIS insurgency is newly energized as US cuts impact aid programs

Mocimboa da Praia, Mozambique —

Musty salt air crept at dusk over the nets and moored boats on northern Mozambique’s coast as seven armed and uniformed men marched into the fishing community last month, demanding the keys to the mosque.

Once inside, they commanded – over the microphone used for the call to prayer – that locals on the edge of the port town of Mocimboa da Praia come to listen.

It was only when they unfurled an ISIS banner, the mosque’s imam Sumail Issa told CNN, that it became clear who they were. Also palpable was the new-found confidence of the jihadists, emerging in recent months after the chaotic collapse of US aid funding to one of Africa’s poorest countries.

“When they called everyone over, as soon as they saw that flag, a colleague and I left, saying we needed t