The leaders of the countries of the southern region of Africa announced on Wednesday in Maputo that they have reached an agreement on the forthcoming deployment of troops in Mozambique to contribute to the fight against jihadist organizations that have been sowing terror in the northeastern part of the country for more than three years. .
The Community for the Development of Southern Africa (KAMA, 16 Member States) “approved the deployment of a force (…) to support Mozambique in its fight against terrorism and extremist violence in the Delgadu Plain,” it said after an emergency. summit the agency’s executive secretary, Stergomena Tach, without going into further details about the mission.
Militant groups commonly referred to as al-Shebab (“youth” in Arabic) have intensified their attacks in the impoverished Muslim-majority province of Campos Delgadu, which borders Tanzania. They set fire to villages, behead men and underage boys, and kidnap to recruit new members or enslave sex slaves.
The attacks have escalated over the past year. So far, however, President Philippe News has been reluctant to accept any foreign aid, insisting on defending Mozambique’s national sovereignty, which gained independence in 1975. The Mozambican army, with severe training and equipment shortages, has so far been backed by private security companies.
The possible deployment of 3,000 men had already been discussed in May, during a previous meeting of KAMA leaders, but no announcement had been made at the time.
“Support initiatives by KAMA are an important complement to our country’s effort to combat terrorism, with our national defense and security forces at the forefront, which selflessly guarantee our national sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as its protection. population “, said yesterday Mr. Newzi, who chaired the organization for the previous 12 months.
“Huge pressure”
On March 24, a large-scale surprise attack in Palma, a city with a strategic port, killed dozens of people and displaced tens of thousands more.
The attack, one of the worst since the violence in Campo Delgado began, provoked a backlash from the international community as it halted France’s Total’s 16.8 billion-euro gas field, a few kilometers from Palma.
Italy’s ENI, which has taken over the exploitation of another gas field in the region, on Monday assured on Monday that the works have not been affected and that it is well on its way to start mining as planned in 2022.
“President Niusi has come under” enormous pressure from the agency to deploy these troops, as the situation in Mozambique is not just a local crisis, it has become a regional dilemma, “Willem Els of the Institute for Security Studies told AFP. Institute for Security Studies, ISS).
Another think tank, the International Crisis Group (ICG), which recently urged Mozambique to accept “measured” foreign aid, welcomed the KAMA decision, calling it a “further step” in tackling instability in the region.
During an official visit to neighboring South Africa in late May, French President Emmanuel Macron said he was ready to order the French armed forces to “engage in naval operations” off Mozambique at the request of the region. . Portugal and the United States have already deployed troops to train members of the Mozambican armed forces.
The summit in Maputo was attended by the leaders of South Africa, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iwatini, Malawi, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The other KAMA member countries were represented at ministerial level.
Violence in northeastern Mozambique has claimed the lives of at least 2,800 people and forced some 800,000 others to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.
It has also caused a major humanitarian crisis. During the summit, leaders called on Member States to send humanitarian aid. Nearly one million people in the region, most of them displaced, are facing the spectrum of hunger, according to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP).
