Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Police of the Republic of Mozambique on Thursday initiated the training of a mixed force to respond to kidnappings and terrorism in the country. The group will be trained by Rwandan experts.
“This regiment was conceived by the Police of the Republic of Mozambique to respond to the current challenges that the country is facing,” general commander of the Mozambican police, Bernardino Rafael, declared at the launch in Maputo.
The training course will last six months and, in addition to kidnappings and terrorism, will cover drugs and human trafficking.
“Kidnapping creates terror in families, especially in the business class, and drives off investment and development in our country. Therefore, fighting kidnapping, like terrorism, has to proceed in parallel. We have to find the terrorist before he enters our country,” Rafael added.
The training schedule for the group includes counter-intelligence classes, some of which will be held outside the country.
“We are aware that the fruit of this training will not appear in six months, but the important thing is to be prepared for the future,” Rafael stressed.
Mozambique’s provincial capitals have recently seen a wave of kidnappings, the victims of which are mostly businesspeople and their families.
The situation led the Confederation of Economic Associations of Mozambique, the country’s largest employers’ organisation, to demand concrete measures to curb the wave of kidnappings, even offering material support to the government to improve the efficiency of crime-fighting.
In addition, one of the main challenges facing the Defence and Security sectors in Mozambique since 2017 has been the armed insurgency in Cabo Delgado, with some attacks claimed by the ‘Islamic State’ jihadist group.
An offensive by government troops underway since July, with the support of Rwanda, later joined by a Southern African Development Community (SADC) force, has increased security and recovered several areas form rebel dominance, including the town of Mocímboa da Praia, occupied by the insurgents since August, 2020.
The conflict in Cabo Delgado has already cost more than 3,100 lives, according to the ACLED conflict registration project, and displaced more than 817,000 civilians, according to the Mozambican authorities.
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