Mozambique: US agrees to supply non-lethal military equipment to Cabo Delgado

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Mozambique: US agrees to supply non-lethal military equipment to Cabo Delgado

1:53 CAT | 17 Aug 2023

Photo: Presidente Filipe Nyusi/Facebook

The United States has agreed to supply non-lethal military equipment to Mozambique, the head of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM), General Michael Langley, announced on Wednesday, “impressed” by the results of the fight against terrorism in Cabo Delgado.

“I’m here on a learning mission, because Mozambique and its partners throughout SADC, and also with some of the other African partners, have been very successful, especially in Cabo Delgado. And we’re learning from that, with very effective means, and we’re very impressed. And that’s what the discussions with the president were about,” explained the US general, after meeting with the head of state in Maputo.

READ: AFRICOM commander reinforces U.S.-Mozambique security cooperation

According to the AFRICOM commander, the meeting with the President, Filipe Nyusi, served to discuss US support for the creation of “operational capacity” in Mozambique in the fight against terrorism, “mainly” through the training component, but also in the supply of equipment.

“I’m not going to go into detail about what the president has asked for, but I know that, firstly, it will probably be in terms of uniforms. So non-lethal aid at the moment,” explained Michael Langley, after the meeting with the Mozambican head of state.

The general added that the supply of equipment to Mozambique’s security and defence forces (FDS) will depend on the negotiations that will take place immediately after the “formal request” that the government will have to submit.

“Therefore, there is no programme for this supply at the moment,” he recognised.

He insisted that the US government is prioritising a plan to “increase the partnership” with Mozambique and to “increase local capacity”.

“It starts with training, but progresses to what is possible. What we can do is help equip,” he said, recalling that in recent years Africom has already developed programmes to support the Mozambican armed forces, which will continue.

READ: Mozambique: President meets with AFRICOM commander – photos

The province of Cabo Delgado has been facing armed insurgency for almost six years, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.

The insurgency has led to a military response since July 2021, with support from Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), liberating districts near gas projects, but new attacks have emerged in the south of the region and in neighbouring Nampula province.

The conflict in northern Mozambique has already displaced one million people, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and caused around 4,000 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project.

Last week, the extremist group Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack on the Kathupa base, in the interior of the Macomia district, in the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, saying that 10 soldiers from Mozambique’s FDS were killed.

The attack, on 8 August, was claimed in a statement released by the fundamentalist group’s Amaq agency, which said that seven other FDS soldiers were injured, and which included a photograph of victims and seized material, the authenticity of which could not be verified.

The Mozambican authorities have so far not confirmed the incident.

It was apparently an attempt to recover the base, which had been captured from terrorists by the FDS since last year.

The president of Mozambique said on 10 August that the FDS had expelled the terrorists from all the districts they occupied in Cabo Delgado province, in the north of the country.

“Our defence and security forces, also assisted by the local force, continue to relentlessly pursue the terrorists, having evicted them from all the districts they occupied until 2021,” said Filipe Nyusi, in Maputo, at a reception for his Kenyan counterpart, William Ruto, on a state visit to the country.

“Efforts are continuing to fight the terrorists who are attacking some districts of Cabo Delgado province, combining multilateral and bilateral cooperation, from SADC, through SAMIM [Southern African Military Mission], and Rwanda, respectively,” said the Mozambican president.

Source: Lusa