Africa-Press – Mozambique. Mozambique’s governing party, Frelimo, has hailed the “commitment and bravery” of the joint force formed to combat armed rebels in Cabo Delgado, in the north of the country, and which includes foreign as well as Mozambican military personnel.
In a statement, the party’s political commission, which met on Wednesday in Maputo, “praised the commitment and bravery of the Mozambique-Rwanda Joint Force and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Standby Force in the continuing fight against terrorist groups in some areas of Cabo Delgado province.”
According to the statement, the results of the operations so far are promising and bring hope to the populations displaced due to the conflict that has devastated districts in the north of Cabo Delgado province over the past four years.
“The Political Committee reiterates its encouragement to the Defence and Security Forces, in coordination with the Rwandan and SADC troops, to continue aligned and with determination in the fight against the phenomenon, whose results are reflected in the recovery of the administrative posts of Diaca, Mbau and the town of Mocímboa da Praia and other positions previously occupied by the terrorists,” the statement reads.
It also welcomes what it said was a broad movement of solidarity with the affected populations.
The fight against the insurgents in Cabo Delgado gained fresh momentum when on 8 August joint forces from Mozambique and Rwanda reconquered the strategic port town of Mocímboa da Praia, which had been in the hands of the rebels for over a year. It had come to be considered these groups’ local “base” and had been the place where they carried out their first attack in October 2017.
Armed attacks by insurgents in districts in northern Cabo Delgado have so far caused more than 3,100 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project, and displaced more than 817,000 people, according to the Mozambique authorities.
As well as troops from Rwanda, Mozambique now has SADC support in the form of a mission with a mandate for a “joint force on standby” approved on 23 June at an extraordinary summit of the regional community in Maputo at which the armed violence in Cabo Delgado was discussed. Military personnel from some member countries are already on the ground.
