Mozambique: Veterans ‘unquestionable’ against Cabo Delgado rebels – president

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Mozambique: Veterans ‘unquestionable’ against Cabo Delgado rebels – president

6:48 CAT | 04 Apr 2024

File photo: Presidencia da Republica de Moçambique

Mozambican president Filipe Nyusi said on Thursday that “terrorist groups” are a serious threat to the peace, security, stability and unity of the country”, noting, however, that the rebels have suffered “heavy losses” in the province of Cabo Delgado.

“Armed attacks by terrorist groups in Cabo Delgado continue to be a serious threat to the peace, security, stability of the country and the unity of our nation,” said Nyusi.

The Mozambican president was speaking at the opening of the meeting of the association of national liberation struggle fighters (ACLLIN), a political arm of the ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo), of which Filipe Nyusi is president.

He considered the role of the veterans of the fight against Portuguese colonialism in combating the insurgents in Cabo Delgado to be “unquestionable”.

The Frelimo president emphasised that the former combatants have taken up arms again and have formed a “local force” to stop the incursions of terrorist groups into the province.

“The local force is fighting hard and has inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy in the northern theatre of operations [in Cabo Delgado], including some of its leaders, who were put out of action by the veterans of the national liberation struggle,” he stressed.

Alongside the defence and security forces and foreign military, the local force has managed to stop “massacres, destruction of infrastructure and displacement of members of the public” caused by the insurgents, he added.

The ACLLIN meeting precedes the meeting of the Frelimo Central Committee, the most important bodies of the ruling political force in the interval between congresses, scheduled for Friday and Saturday.

After several months of relative normality in the districts affected by armed violence in Cabo Delgado, the province has for some months been experiencing new movements and attacks by rebel groups, which have limited circulation to a few points on the few tarmac roads that give access to various districts.

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

The insurgency, which has flared up again since December with several attacks on the public and armed forces, has led to a military response since July 2021, with support first from Rwanda, with more than 2,000 troops, and from the Southern African Development Community, liberating districts near natural gas projects.

Source: Lusa