Mozambique: Keeping reconquered areas a ‘complex challenge’ – president

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Mozambique: Keeping reconquered areas a ‘complex challenge’ – president

8:59 CAT | 10 Aug 2021

Photo: Presidency

Mozambique’s president, Filipe Nyusi, said on Monday it would be a “complex challenge” to maintain and consolidate the positions recovered from the armed groups operating in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, showing “satisfaction” with the progress on the front.

“The challenge of maintaining and consolidating the rear has proved to be more complex, hence the need for more attention and rigour,” Nyusi said.

Nyusi was speaking during the official launch of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Standby Force yesterday in Pemba, capital of Cabo Delgado.

Watch TVM reporting live from Pemba, on Monday.

Nyusi on Monday noted the recapture of the port town of Mocímboa da Praia and several “advanced positions” of the armed groups operating in northern Mozambique, reiterating the commitment to eliminate “terrorism and violent extremism.”

“The control of the town of Mocímboa da Praia and the gradual return of circulation between Palma and Mocímboa da Praia is the product of the bravery and delivery of the joint force, to quickly return stability to the region,” he said.

The SADC Standby Force, in cooperation with the Mozambican FDS and the Rwandan military contingent, should prevent the return of the armed groups to the areas from which they were expelled, he added.

“In recent days, we have been receiving the news of the successful progression of our forces fighting together with our brothers from Rwanda,” Nyusi said.

The office of the president of Mozambique said on Sunday, in a statement, that the SADC military contingent included defence and security forces from South Africa, Botswana, Angola, Lesotho and Tanzania, in the areas of land, naval, air, intelligence and logistics forces, amongst others.

The number of troops the organisation will send to Mozambique is not publicly known. Still, SADC experts in Cabo Delgado said in April that the mission should be made up of around 3,000 soldiers.

Since the beginning of July, the Mozambican FDS has had the support of 1,000 soldiers and police from Rwanda to fight against armed groups as part of a bilateral agreement between the Mozambican government and the Kigali authorities.

The Mozambican Defence Ministry on Sunday confirmed the recapture of the town of Mocímboa da Praia by the joint Mozambican and Rwandan forces, saying that fighting was continuing to “consolidate the remaining critical areas.

“The joint forces of Mozambique and Rwanda have controlled the town of Mocímboa da Praia since 11:00 [10:00 Lisbon time] on 8 August 2021,” the spokesman for the Mozambican Ministry of Defence, Omar Saranga, said at a press conference.

Earlier, the Rwandan Ministry of Defence had already announced in a tweet the recovery of the port town of Mocímboa da Praia in a joint operation with the Mozambican FDS.

Armed groups have terrorised Cabo Delgado province since 2017, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.

Following the attacks, there are more than 3,100 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project, and more than 817,000 displaced people, according to Mozambican authorities.

Source: Lusa / TVM