Mozambique: International support needs being assessed – president

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Mozambique: International support needs being assessed – president

1:03 CAT | 07 Apr 2021

Photo: Noticias

Mozambique’s president, Filipe Nyusi, said on Wednesday that his government is assessing with international partners the needs for assistance in the fight against “terrorism”, noting that the fight against armed groups should be done by Mozambicans.

“Our government has told the international community the needs for the fight against terrorism, and these needs are being assessed,” Filipe Nyusi said.

Nyusi as speaking in an address to the nation on the occasion of Mozambican Women’s Day, which is marked today, exactly two weeks after the armed attacks on the town of Palma, in the northern province of Cabo Delgado.

The Mozambican government and international partners are surveying the country’s shortcomings in the fight against international terrorism. Still, this front should be led by Mozambicans, with respect for its sovereignty, he said.

“It is not empty pride. It is a sense of sovereignty,” the president said.

Nyusi reiterated information already provided by the ministry of defence that Palma was back under the control of government forces, adding that the pursuit of members of the armed groups that attacked the town on 24 March is ongoing.

“The terrorists have been expelled from Palma, we do not intend to proclaim victory because we are fighting terrorism, but we are sure that if we are united, we will win,” he stressed.

Nyusi said that the government was committed to modernising, equipping and training the Defence and Security Forces in the fight against armed groups in the north, noting that the government forces had been subjected to decades of lack of “solid investment”.

Mozambique, he continued, is also mobilised to form a common front to prevent and combat terrorism with its partners from the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

In this regard, the Mozambican capital will host on Thursday a summit of SADC heads of state in the area of defence and security to define ways of eradicating terrorism, he said.

Nyusi also announced the convening of the National Defence Council (CND) for a discussion on armed violence in Cabo Delgado but did not give a date for the meeting.

The president also directed a word to the thousands of people displaced by the armed violence in Cabo Delgado, announcing the creation of an inter-ministerial group that will coordinate the mobilisation of humanitarian support to the victims.

“The situation that [the displaced] face is transitional, we know that it seems empty to say this [given the humanitarian drama they are going through], but together and united, we will defeat terrorism,” Filipe Nyusi stressed.

The president warned of the danger of “division and discord” among Mozambicans by the narrative of attributing the activities of armed groups to Islam, arguing that “terrorists are also killing Muslims”.

He admitted that the war in Cabo Delgado would not be won only through military means, advocating the promotion of employment for the occupation of young people who are seduced to join armed groups.

The violence unleashed in the last three years in Cabo Delgado province escalated about a fortnight ago when armed groups first attacked the town of Palma, which is about six kilometres from the multi-million dollar natural gas projects.

According to United Nations data, the attacks caused dozens of deaths. They forced thousands of Palma residents to flee, worsening a humanitarian crisis that has affected some 700,000 people in the province since the conflict began.

Several countries have offered Maputo military support on the ground to combat these insurgents. Still, so far, there has been no opening for this, although there are reports and testimonies that point to security companies and mercenaries in the area.

Source: Lusa