Dyck Advisory Group (or DAG) is a private military company based in Velddrif, South Africa.

History

The firm was founded in 2012 by Lionel Dyck,[1] an ex-military colonel[2] who had served in the Rhodesian Security Forces and then the Zimbabwe Defence Forces. He fought as part of the Zimbabwean intervention force that assisted the Mozambican government against RENAMO during the Mozambican Civil War. At the time, he forged good relations in the Mozambican governing party FRELIMO and with later Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Following the Mozambican Civil War, Dyck continued to be involved in Mozambique, participating in demining and anti-poaching operations.[3]

The Dyck Advisory Group specializes in demining and anti-poaching services, and has customers around the world.[4] From 2019, the firm became active in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, where they helped to fight a local Islamist insurgency. The company was hired by police chief Bernardino Rafael, and helped to train local policemen besides fighting the rebels.[3][5] The Dyck Advisory Group's troops operate and charter out several Bat Hawk light aircraft,[6] and have deployed 3 Aérospatiale Gazelles, 2 Eurocopter AS350 Écureuils, and 1 Aérospatiale Alouette III in Cabo Delgado.[7]

In 2021, Amnesty International reported that during operations in Mozambique, the firm's operatives fired machine guns from helicopters and dropped hand grenades indiscriminately into crowds of people, as well as repeatedly firing at civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, and homes.[3][8]

In the Battle of Palma of March and April 2021, the company assisted the Mozambican military and police forces in combating the attacking insurgents. According to Dyck, his operatives engaged several of the terrorists as well as rescued wounded policemen and trapped civilians.[2][5][9] The rescue conducted in part by the Dyck Advisory Group was accused of rescuing white contractors before local black civilians by Amnesty International.[10][11]

References

  1. ↑ "DYCK ADVISORY GROUP - K2012198102 - South Africa". b2bhint.com. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  2. 1 2 David McKenzie (30 March 2021). "Leader of mercenary group in Mozambique says that ISIS-linked insurgents hold Palma". CNN. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 Gordon Feller (7 April 2021). "An overview of foreign security involvement in Mozambique". DefenceWeb. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  4. ↑ Hanlon, Joseph (27 July 2020). "Mozambique: Mercenaries to the Fore as Dyck Contract Extended". allAfrica.com. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Cabo Ligado Weekly: 29 March-4 April" (PDF). Cabo Ligado (ACLED, Zitamar News, Mediafax). 6 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  6. ↑ "MOZAMBIQUE/SOUTH AFRICA : Cabo Delgado: Dyck Advisory Group's loses one surveillance aircraft after another - 26/06/2020". Africa Intelligence. 26 June 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  7. ↑ Andrew Harding; Philippe Chapleau (31 March 2021). "Mozambique: le fondateur de Dyck Advisory Group revient sur l'engagement de la SMP". Lignes de défense. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  8. ↑ "Mozambique: Civilians killed as war crimes committed by armed group, government forces, and private military contractors – new report". Amnesty International. 2 March 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  9. ↑ Meldrum, Andrew (29 March 2021). "Rebels leave beheaded bodies in streets of Mozambique town". Associated Press. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  10. ↑ "Mozambique: Rescue attempts jeopardized by racial discrimination following Palma attack – new survivors' testimony". Amnesty International. 13 May 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  11. ↑ "White people rescued before Black people in Palma: Amnesty". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 7 September 2021.


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