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Mozambique's President Unveils Southern African Troops to Fight Insurgents

Charles Mangwiro

   MAPUTO - MozambiquePresident FilipeNyusi on a visit to the troubled
   northern Cabo Delgado province Monday, unveiledthe Southern African
   troops sent to fight the region's insurgents.'¯'¯The Southern African
   Development Community's Standby Force includes troops
   from'¯Angola,'¯Botswana, Lesotho,'¯South Africa'¯and'¯Tanzania.'¯The
   SADC troops are being deployed as'¯Mozambican and Rwandan troops on
   Sunday say they retook a key port city that the Islamist militants held
   for two years.'¯'¯

   In a live broadcast on stateradioand televisionMondayfromCabo
   Delgado'sprovincialcapital,Pemba, PresidentFilipeNyusiaddressed
   southern African troopsdeployed to the regionto fight insurgents.

   Southern AfricanDevelopment Community membersAngola, Botswana,Lesotho,
   South Africaand Tanzaniaare the firstin the16-membergroupto send troops
   to Mozambique.

   Nyusithanked SADC for its engagementandunderscored the need to
   coordinatein battlingthe Islamist militants.

   TotheSADC standby forces who are here,he says,we appeal once again for
   greater coordination on the operational theaterandrigorous observation
   of the benchmarks of responsibility,strategically defined.Nyusisays
   theydemand communication, exchange of operative information on the
   ground, discipline and respect for human life.

   Thetotalnumber of soldiers thegroupis sending to Mozambiquehas not been
   made public. But experts from SADC, who were in Cabo
   Delgado,suggestedthat the mission should comprise around 3,000troops.

   Botswana in late July announced it was sending almost 300 troops to
   fight in Mozambique,and itspresident,Mokgweetsi Masisi,attended
   Monday'sunveiling.

   The'¯commander'¯of the'¯SADC standbyforce'¯is South
   AfricanMajorGeneralXolaniMankayi.Speaking onastatebroadcasterfrom
   Pemba, hesaid they woulddo everythingpossibleto restore peaceinthe
   affected areas.

   "The SADC region state as described above is(to)facilitate the creation
   of a secure environment, to ensure that the state authority is in full
   control of the Cabo Delgado affected areas,and normal livescan
   resume,"Mankayi said.

   Nyusihad been reluctant to allow foreign troops
   intoMozambique'sconflict,but in July confirmed that outside help was
   needed to defeat the insurgents.

   Rwanda, which is not a SADC member, sent1,000troopsin early Julyto Cabo
   Delgado, where theysay they aremaking gainsfighting alongside
   Mozambique's.

   Spokesman forMozambique'sMinistry ofDefense,OmarSaranga,late Sunday
   announced they hadregained control of the port town ofMocÃmboada Praia.

   He says itis important to highlight that the success of the operations
   is due to the effective collaboration of the local communities, which
   is whytheycall for the reinforcement of collective vigilance.Bearin
   mind,saysSaranga, thatdue to thepushof the ongoing offensive,
   terrorists will tend to infiltrate,with the aim of
   disruptingsearches,as well asregistration of rescued populations.

   Theministry said theinsurgents, who call themselves Al-Shabab butare
   not connectedto the SomaliIslamistgroup of the same name,had controlled
   the port formore thantwo years.

   Since theinsurgentsbegan fighting in 2017 near rich oil and gas
   depositprojects, more than2,500 peoplehave been killed.

   More than 800,000people have been displaced by the fightingsince April
   2020,while gas projects worth billions have been put on hold.

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