Africa-Press – Mozambique. Mozambique’s defence minister said on Friday that terrorists are being slaughtered and are in a “very dramatic situation” as a result of “intense operations” taking place in Cabo Delgado, supported by Rwandan forces.
“What we must assure the Mozambican people is that the terrorists are currently in a very dramatic situation because the operations are intense, and they are being beaten,” Jaime Neto said on the sidelines of the accreditation ceremony for new military attachés in Maputo.
The defence minister said it was difficult to count the number of insurgents killed in operations in a reaction to an announcement made by the Rwandan authorities in Kigali about killing 14 terrorists in Cabo Delgado in operations carried out by that country’s contingent in northern Mozambique.
“It was not only this number [of terrorists] that was slaughtered. We are talking about what was counted on the Rwandan side, but our air and ground operations have been doing a great job,” Neto said.
“It is challenging [to estimate the number of terrorists killed], but the truth is that they are suffering casualties, and many,” he concluded.
Since the beginning of the month, the Mozambican Defence and Security Forces have had the support of 1,000 soldiers and police from Rwanda in the fight against armed groups, under a bilateral agreement between the Mozambican government and the Kigali authorities.
As well as Rwanda, Mozambique will have support from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in a mandate for a “joint force on standby” approved on 23 June at an extraordinary summit of the organisation in Maputo that discussed armed violence in that province, with military personnel from some member countries already on the ground.
The number of troops that the organisation will send to Mozambique is not publicly known, but SADC experts who were in Cabo Delgado had already said in April that the mission would be made up of around 3,000 soldiers.
Armed groups have been terrorising Cabo Delgado province since 2017, with some attacks claimed by the Islamic State group.
According to the Mozambican authorities, there have been more than 3,100 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project, and more than 817,000 displaced people, according to the Mozambican authorities.
