Mozambique: Parliamentarians call for border patrols as rebel attacks continue

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Mozambique: Parliamentarians call for border patrols as rebel attacks continue

3:52 CAT | 17 Nov 2020

Picture: Bloomberg

A Commission from Mozambique’s parliament that visited the country’s borders has warned of the need to step up patrols in these areas, particularly in view of the worsening military conflict in Cabo Delgado, in the north of the country, where groups of militants have killed around 2,000 people and forced hundreds of thousands more to flee.

“During our field visits, we noted that there are challenges at our borders, relating to transport, in carrying out the necessary patrols and surveillance,” said Catarina Dimande, a member of parliament’s commission for international relations, cooperation and communities, cited on Tuesday by the Mozambique Information Agency (AIM).

The commission had earlier made a working visit of about an hour to the Ministry of the Interior to exchange information.

During the meeting, the commission recommended that the national police force, the PRM, carry out more checks at the borders.

The visit was part of the parliament’s work monitoring acts of governance.

In this case, commission members are focusing on actions taken in terms of defence and security policy, with the emphasis on conflicts in the north and centre of the country.

The Mozambican authorities have alleged that some of the perpetrators of the armed attacks in Cabo Delgado are foreign nationals who have taken advantage of the porosity of the country’s borders.

The armed violence in the province has triggered a humanitarian crisis, with some 435,000 people displaced elsewhere in the province – mainly concentrated in the provincial capital, Pemba – and to neighbouring provinces, many without housing or enough food.

In the centre of the country, meanwhile, clashes between dissident guerrillas of the opposition Renamo party and government forces have left 30 people dead in the last year.

Source: Lusa