Mozambique: Military maritime cooperation agreement with France under discussion

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Mozambique: Military maritime cooperation agreement with France under discussion

3:28 CAT | 17 Jul 2020

File photo: Lusa

Mozambique and France are discussing a military maritime cooperation agreement, a diplomatic source in the European country told Lusa in the context of possible support in the fight against terrorism in Cabo Delgado.

“No operational military support has been provided to Cabo Delgado by the French authorities, but a military cooperation agreement in the maritime field is currently under discussion,” the source said.

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France has made the fight against this type of violence “a priority in its international action”, and has already “expressed its support for the Mozambican authorities in the fight against Islamic terrorism in Cabo Delgado”, offering to “share its experience”, the same source added.

The Franco-Mozambican relationship is based on the proximity between the two states in the south-eastern Indian Ocean, where France has a number of overseas territories.

The French Armed Forces of the Southern Zone of the Indian Ocean (FAZSOI) have been promoting military cooperation, “conducting training with the Mozambican authorities on state action at sea, as they have proposed in the past in the field of the fight against piracy”.

Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province has been under attack since October 2017 by insurgents, classified since the beginning of the year by Mozambican and international authorities as a terrorist threat.

In two-and-a-half years of conflict in Cabo Delgado, where Africa’s largest private investment for natural gas extraction (led by the French company Total) is advancing, it is estimated that at least 700 people have already died and 250,000 have been adversely affected.

Source: Lusa