Mozambique: President calls for stronger border cooperation

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Mozambique: President calls for stronger border cooperation

7:29 CAT | 09 Apr 2021

Photo: Twitter / @newsonnbc

Mozambican president Filipe Nyusi, on Thursday, called for cooperation in cross-border surveillance as essential to stem the flow of foreign fighters fomenting terrorism in Cabo Delgado, warning of the spread of violence throughout Southern Africa.

Nyusi was speaking during the Extraordinary Summit of the SADC Double Troika, which includes the countries of the SADC Troika and the Defence and Security Body, called to discuss armed violence in the province of Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique.

Among the measures that the SADC countries should implement to combat terrorism is strengthening border control between countries, he said.

Southern African police and judicial systems, he continued, must work to combat trafficking and money laundering that funds terrorism.

Nyusi stressed that the organisation should implement practical acts to combat this scourge of terrorism to prevent its expansion and destabilisation of the region.

He warned of the risk that the actions of armed groups with a jihadist connotation could hinder regional integration.

At Thursday’s summit, the SADC decided to send a technical team to Mozambique to assess its needs in combating terrorism, the organisation said.

The violence unleashed more than three years ago in Cabo Delgado province took a new escalation about a fortnight ago when armed groups attacked the town of Palma, which is about six kilometres from the multi-million dollar natural gas, according to United Nations data.

The attacks caused dozens of deaths and forced thousands of Palma residents to flee, worsening a humanitarian crisis that has affected some 700,000 people in the province since the conflicts data.

The Islamic State terrorist movement on Monday claimed control of the town of Palma, near the border with Tanzania, but the Mozambican Defence and Security Forces (FDS) completely retook control of the town, the spokesman for the Northern Operational Theatre, Chongo Vidigal, announced on Monday, a statement reiterated on Wednesday by the Mozambican president.

Several countries have offered Maputo military support on the ground to combat these insurgents, but so far there has been no openness, although reports and testimonies are pointing to security companies and mercenaries in the area.