Mozambique: Country should prepare security plan for after foreign troops pull out of Cabo Delgado – NGO

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Mozambique: Country should prepare security plan for after foreign troops pull out of Cabo Delgado – NGO

9:23 CAT | 17 Jan 2022

FILE PHOTO - Mozambique army soldiers patrol the streets of Palma, Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, 12 April 2021. ]File photo: Lusa/ Joao Relvas)]

The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), a Mozambican NGO, said Friday that the country should prepare a defence and security strategy to be applied after the withdrawal of foreign troops in Cabo Delgado.

The NGO’s position comes in relation to the extension, for a further three months, of the military mission of the Southern African Development Community in Mozambique (SAMIM), announced on Wednesday by Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi.

The CDD believes that “violent extremism will not be defeated only with the military front,” and therefore “Mozambique should study alternative ways” to prevent young people from joining insurgent groups.

“The SADC [Southern African Development Community] troops will not stay for long years in Cabo Delgado”.

According to the Mozambican head of state, extending the military mission that supports Mozambique in the fight against the rebels in Cabo Delgado, will cost US$29.5 million (26 million euros), and most of the regional leaders that attended the summit pledged to provide the funds within the stipulated timeframe.

The extension of SAMIM’s stay in Mozambique comes at a time when there are signs of a spreading insurgency into Niassa province, neighbouring Cabo Delgado, with sporadic attacks on remote areas that have already caused some 3,000 people to flee, according to the latest figures from the authorities.

Cabo Delgado province is rich in natural gas but has been terrorised since 2017 by armed rebels, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.

The conflict has led to more than 3,100 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project, and more than 817,000 displaced people, according to Mozambican authorities.

Since July, an offensive by government troops with support from Rwanda which was later joined by SADC allowed for increased security, recovering several areas from the rebels, including the town of Mocímboa da Praia, which had been occupied since August 2020.

Source: Lusa