The Mozambican terrorist group al-Shabaab captured the city of Palma on March 26. Al-Shabaab (unaffiliated with the Somali terrorist group of the same name) has been waging terrorism since at least 2015. It already controls much of northern Mozambique. The conflict mainly centers around the Cabo Delgado province bordering Tanzania. The Telegraph estimates that the conflict has killed roughly 2,400 people and displaced 700,000. Al-Shabaab claims allegiance with the notorious Islamic State, but the actual links between the two are unknown.

Al-Shabaab claimed on March 29 that they killed at least 55 people in the siege of Palma. Those included Mozambican military personnel and “members of Crusader states,” probably referring to the large amount of foreign workers in Palma, including some from Europe.

The siege on Palma is only the latest attack by al-Shabaab in recent days. The terrorist group has been staging a bloody rampage for the last few weeks. Descriptions of al-Shabaab’s carnage are horrifying. The city’s roads were littered with the headless bodies of their victims. Most of them appear to be civilians. The Telegraph wrote: “The sheer brutality of the violence has shocked humanitarians and seasoned military personnel working in the region, who say they have never seen anything like it. People are often hacked to death and mutilated with machetes. Mass Islamic State-style beheadings have been reported.” Those beheaded include children as young as 11.

Mozambique is a former Portuguese colony on the coast of the Indian Ocean, sandwiched between South Africa and Tanzania. While a majority of its population is Christian, it has a sizable Muslim minority.

What is happening in Mozambique is a tragedy. But the capture of Palma demands closer scrutiny. What is happening in Mozambique is a microcosm of geopolitical interests that affect Africa in general. The interests major world powers have in Mozambique can be applied to the whole continent.

First off, there is the question of foreign sponsorship of al-Shabaab. Journalists’ access to the conflict zones in northern Mozambique is limited. Because of this, the outside world doesn’t have the clearest picture of many of the details of the conflict. But an incident in December 2019 gives a hint at al-Shabaab’s foreign links, according to Club of Mozambique, a local English-language news medium.

A ship unauthorized to sail in Mozambican waters was intercepted by authorities. The people on board the mysterious vessel set fire to the ship and jumped into the water to escape. Three of the 15 people drowned in the process; the other 12 were apprehended. Meanwhile, the ship sank. The authorities at first suspected they were drug smugglers. It turns out they were Iranians.

Data from a salvaged cell phone shows that their cargo was weapons: AK47s, shotguns, pistols, ammunition and other miscellaneous supplies. They were charged in November with terrorism. The Mozambican government assumes they were heading to Cabo Delgado to support groups like al-Shabaab.

It is unknown whether the group was sponsored by the Iranian government or working for a criminal organization. But Mozambique is on the other side of the Indian Ocean from the Persian Gulf. If they were mere criminals, they would have had much closer customers they could have delivered to.

But Iran, the world’s number one state sponsor of terrorism, has been exporting Islamic revolution worldwide since 1979. And Africa has been on the ayatollah’s radar in that regard. Tehran has sponsored the Somali al-Shabaab, which controls sizable patches of the country, to attack American targets, mine uranium for the Iranian nuclear program and use Somalia as a transit point to sell Iranian oil under the radar of American sanctions. Iran’s elite Quds Force leader Ismail Qaani was implicated in trying to sell weapons to Gambia in West Africa in 2010. Morocco cut ties with Iran in 2018 under allegations that Iran’s proxy Hezbollah was supporting rebels in the Moroccan-controlled region of Western Sahara.

Again, the details of Mozambican al-Shabaab’s connections are murky. But considering Iran’s support for other Islamist movements in Africa, it may be that Tehran is ambitious enough to extend its tentacles all the way to southern Africa. And it certainly is reflective of Iran’s plans to have a proxy empire in areas far away from Iran itself.

But Iran isn’t the only power with a stake in the Mozambican conflict. Europe does as well.

Palma is actually home to, what the Wall Street Journal calls, “the largest foreign investment project on the African continent”: a liquefied natural gas plant operated by French company Total SE, one of the biggest energy companies in the world. The project is worth roughly $20 billion.

One of the main targets of al-Shabaab’s offensive was the Amarula Lodge, a hotel popular with workers on the project. People stuck in the hotel tried to make a dash to safety through a 17-vehicle convoy. Only seven made it to safety.

This isn’t the first time Total SE has had problems with Islamist uprisings in the area. France has been aware of the security situation and is trying to increase its presence in Mozambique. As of last year, France and Mozambique were discussing a military cooperation agreement. The French military already assists Mozambique with military training. France also has a military base in the island of Mayotte, a French territory about 310 miles from Mozambique. Reports suggest France even has the French Foreign Legions involved in the crisis.

This latest attack on “the largest foreign investment project on the African continent” may prompt France to increase its presence in that part of Africa.

Radical Islam and Europe are heading for a clash in Africa, exactly as the Bible prophesies.

Daniel 11:40-43 prophesy about two world power blocs in “the time of the end,” the time we are living in right now. The prophecy reads: “And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him [the king of the north]: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. … He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.”

Earlier in Daniel 11, the king of the north is referred to anciently as the Roman Empire. (Please request a free copy of History and Prophecy of the Middle East for more detail.) The king of the north “at the time of the end” refers to a modern European superpower emerging in the general area of the old Roman Empire. But who is the king of the south?

It’s a powerful empire south of Europe with a “pushy,” provocative foreign policy. It extends its tentacles into nations like Egypt and Libya, Middle Eastern Muslim nations.

For over 20 years, we’ve warned that Iran is the king of the south. What other Islamist dictatorship exerts such a forceful push against its neighbors, punching well above its weight in poking at the West? What other country can be considered the “king” of the radical Islamist world?

But notice: The prophecy specifically states that Egypt, Libya and Ethiopia will be in the king of the south’s camp. That means Iran will heavily increase its presence in Africa. It also means the king of the north will take note. Just like what’s happening in Mozambique today. But Iran’s ambitions don’t end with supporting an insurgency in a small pocket of southern Africa. Expect nations—big, influential nations—to become Iranian puppets.

To learn more, request our free booklet The King of the South, by Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry.