Cabo Delgado: Nyusi and Magufuli together against “common enemy”

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Cabo Delgado: Nyusi and Magufuli together against “common enemy”

3:42 CAT | 02 Jul 2020

FILE PHOTO: Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique [File photo: DW]

Mozambique and Tanzania want to strengthen coordination in combating armed groups in the province of Cabo Delgado, says a statement released in Maputo.

“The two parties agreed to strengthen coordination in the fight against this common enemy,” after a telephone conversation between the Mozambican head of state, Filipe Nyusi and his Tanzanian counterpart, John Magufuli, a statement released this Wednesday (01-07) by the Mozambican presidency reads.

Cabo Delgado, one of two Mozambican provinces bordering Tanzania [the other being Niassa] , 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.

It is estimated that at least 600 people have died, and an additional 200,000 been displaced in the two-and-a-half years of conflict in Cabo Delgado, where Africa’s largest private investment project – for the extraction of natural gas – is advancing.

Also Read: Mozambique: President interacts with Tanzanian counterpart | Unabridged

The Mozambican presidency’s statement does not elaborate on the strengthening of cooperation between the two states, limiting itself to mentioning that it was one of the topics that “deserved greater attention” during the conversation between the two presidents.

Magufuli is the current chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). On 19 May, the SADC’s Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation troika met in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, and pledged to support the government of Mozambique in the fight against armed groups in Cabo Delgado, without, however, giving specific details.

In addition to insecurity in Cabo Delgado, Nyusi and Magufuli spoke “widely about combating Covid-19, having shared experiences, and the Tanzanian president saluted the Mozambican head of state for the passage of the 45th anniversary of independence in Mozambique”, the document reveals.

Source: Deutsche Welle