Mozambique: South Africa extends military mission in Cabo Delgado, shifts focus

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Mozambique: South Africa extends military mission in Cabo Delgado, shifts focus

2:44 CAT | 14 Apr 2022

File photo: VOA

The deployment of South Africa’s armed forces in Mozambique’s northern province of Cabo Delgado has been extended, while the operation on the ground is in future to be part of a peacekeeping effort, the authorities in Pretoria have announced.

Speaking at a news conference in Pretoria late on Wednesday, the head of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), Rudzani Maphwanya, said that the multinational regional military force in Mozambique – in which South Africa is participating as part of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) – had “destroyed several bases” of “extremist rebels” in the northernmost province of the neighbouring country since its deployment last year.

The general stressed that the regional military offensive had inflicted “massive losses” against the “insurgents”, destroying “several bases and recovered weapons, including grenade launchers, machine guns, AK-47s, vehicles and technological devices.

“During this operation, SAMIM [SADC Mission in Mozambique] forces faced strong resistance from the terrorists, but managed to inflict fatalities and disrupt as well as continue to overpower and pursue the terrorists in the operational area,” Maphwanya said.

However, he stressed that military action was “not enough” to resolve the crisis in northern Mozambique, calling for “better” governance on the part of the Mozambique authorities.

“It is necessary to create conditions so that the Mozambican people can recover … and start moving forward with their lives,” he told journalists.

According to Maphwanya, around 600 South African troops have been in Cabo Delgado province since October as part of a 1,000-strong regional military force from 16 SADC countries to support Mozambique in its battle against insurgency.

Rwanda has also deployed about 2,000 troops as part of a bilateral agreement with Mozambique.

A summit of leaders of southern African countries on Tuesday approved the transition of the regional military force to a more long-term role stabilising the region, following its previous combat offensive against “terrorists”.

Since 2017, the insurgency in Mozambique has claimed more than 3,000 lives and displaced some 800,000 people, with more than 1 million people in need of food aid, according to the United Nations World Food Programme.

Source: Lusa