Mozambique attacks: “We are not failing in Cabo Delgado” – Minister of Defence

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Mozambique attacks: “We are not failing in Cabo Delgado” – Minister of Defence

1:12 CAT | 30 Mar 2020

Photo: Sala da Paz

Mozambique’s defence minister, Jaime Neto, on Friday dismissed the idea that, after armed groups occupied two towns in the north of the country in the space of less than 48 hours, the country’s defence and security forces were failing.

“We are not failing in Cabo Delgado. If we were, perhaps [the aggressors] would already be in another province. We are defending the integrity of our country, of our towns and cities,” Minister Neto said.

Jaime Neto was speaking to journalists after appearing before the parliamentary commission on Defence, Security and Public Order regarding the government’s plan for the next five years.

Faced with the invasions of Mocímboa da Praia and Quissanga on Monday and Wednesday of last week respectively, Jaime Neto stated: “Sporadic cases that happen are not because we have no means of defence. It is the situation and we are working around it.”

The defence minister admitted that losses and casualties caused by the armed groups this week were still being assessed, and promised more information later.

“We have [the balance sheet], but we will talk about it in due course. Otherwise, we would not end the listing now,” he said.

Jaime Neto called armed violence a “very big challenge”, not only in the north of the country but also in the centre, where former guerrillas of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) have staged attacks since August 2019.

“If there was no money to train the armed forces, our ability to intervene may also be affected,” he said, without further explanation.

“If we didn’t have the minimum resources to defend our integrity, I don’t think we would even be talking here. Our armed forces have the means,” he promised.

These means “may not be the ones that any armed forces would like to have, but for the current job, they [are sufficient],” he said. “Do we need reinforcement? Yes, and if we get them, we will use them” to improve conditions.

Jaime Neto said that the repression of armed violence did not depend solely on “resources”.

“We are preparing the human factor to ensure stability in those areas. We are sure that, with the commitment that is being made, things will improve,” he concluded, without going into detail.

Cabo Delgado province has, for two-and-a-half years, been the target of attacks by armed groups that international organisations classify as a terrorist threat, and which have killed at least 350 people, in addition to forcing 156,400 people to abandon their homes in search of safety.

During the attack on Quissanga on Wednesday, one of the members of the group that supposedly invaded the town released a video of himself, face covered and speaking in Portuguese, in which he seems to suggest the violence was aimed at subjecting the region to Islamic law.

Monday’s attack on Mocímboa da Praia has already been claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group.

Source: Lusa