Africa-Press – Mozambique. Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi said on Tuesday that the veterans of the national liberation struggle against Portuguese colonialism are again giving a lesson in patriotism by engaging in the fight against armed groups in Cabo Delgado.
“We particularly welcome the lesson given by the veterans of the national liberation struggle who, together with the young people of the Defence and Security Forces, are fighting side by side, transmitting their knowledge, experience and bravery to the younger ones,” Nyusi said.
Nyusi was speaking in the northern city of Nampula during a speech alluding to the celebrations of the Victory Day, which marks the signing of the Lusaka Accords, signed on 7 September 1974 between the ruling Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) and the Portuguese government, paving the way for the proclamation of the independence of the African country.
The involvement of the fighters of the independence struggle, he continued, in the fight against armed groups in the province of Cabo Delgado is contributing to the losses that the terrorists are suffering.
Nyusi highlighted the partnership between the veterans of the colonial war, Defence and Security Forces, Rwandan government forces, and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) the success of that military mission as fundamental to the country’s success in the fight against insurgency in Cabo Delgado.
Acknowledging the role of former combatants in the country’s independence, the President noted that the Government is committed to the valorisation and social and economic integration of veterans and their descendants.
“Over 35 years of implementing the process of fixing pensions, it has been possible to register 169,651 combatants, with 128,254 pensions having been fixed, which is equivalent to saying that 76% of all combatants, on the whole, already have their pensions fixed,” he said.
With a strong presence in Cabo Delgado, a province that served as a stronghold of the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), the veterans of the colonial war, known as the local force, have been a fundamental piece in the fight against the insurgents due to their knowledge of the terrain and forests of the region.
In his speech alluding to the Victory Day, the Mozambican head of state said that the armed groups operating in Cabo Delgado province had lost “almost all the spaces” they had occupied but warned of the need for “vigilance” because “the enemy is dangerous”.
“At this moment, we have recovered almost all the spaces that the terrorists had occupied, and combative clearing and clarification operations are underway,” Nyusi said.
“The enemy-hunting offensives we have carried out in recent weeks with the Defence and Security Forces at the forefront (…) are suffocating the enemy,” he added.
Nyusi said that the action of the armed groups had resulted in the death of more than 2,000 people, flight of more than 850,000 and destruction of hundreds of social and economic infrastructures.
The Victory Day celebrations were marked by the awarding of decorations to 1,547 veterans of the national liberation struggle across the country to recognise their achievements in the war against Portuguese colonialism.
Watch the TVM report.
