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Mozambique Government Websites Hit by Suspected Jihadist Hackers

MOZAMBIQUE’S Defence Ministry’s was one of more than 30 websites shut down after being hacked by suspected jihadist groups on Monday.

Head of Mozambique’s National Institute of Electronic Government Herminio Jasse confirmed the cyber attack and said that the problem had been resolved.

Messages on the sites displayed the message “Hacked by Yemeni hackers” with an image of a man in a headscarf brandishing a machine gun.

Disaster management, roads administration and water agency's websites were affected, along with the Defence Ministry and the National Institute for Land Transportation.

Mr Jasse said there was no loss of information or leak of citizens’ personal data in the first cyberattack of such magnitude in Mozambique.

Analysts believe that attack was carried out by jihadists and called on the government to strengthen cybersecurity.

Mozambique has been plagued by a jihadist insurgency led by Islamic State-affiliated group al-Shabab, which has no links to the Somalian group with the same name, since 2017.

Although it held swathes of territory in the northern Cabo Delgado province, it has since lost ground and captured militants say the group’s influence is waning.

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