Mozambique: gradual deployment of SADC and military successes of Rwandan troops in Cabo Delgado
Rwandan police and soldiers from the Rwandan Defense Forces (FDR) embarked on a military mission in Mozambique, at Kanombe airport, Kigali, Rwanda, July 10, 2021. AFP - SIMON WOHLFAHRT
Text by: Amélie Tulet Follow
3 min
In Mozambique, to counter the Islamist insurgency in Cabo Delgado, several countries in the region are deploying troops.
After long resistance, Maputo gave its agreement two weeks ago, precisely on Thursday, July 15, for a regional intervention by SADC, the southern African organization.
Previously, Mozambique had directly negotiated the military intervention of another country, not a member of SADC, Rwanda, already in action in the north of the country,
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On the spot for twenty days, officially, the Rwandan soldiers are showing the first results.
Alongside the Mozambican forces, they regained control of Awasse, a strategic crossroads on the road to Mocimboa da Praia, this port city controlled by the insurgents for almost a year.
If Mozambique has chosen to
call on the Rwandan army
, it is for its ability to fulfill a mission limited in time, analyzes Benjamin Augé of the French Institute of International Relations: to fight effectively, without interfering in the affairs of the ruling party, Frelimo, and set off again.
South Africa to send nearly 1,500 troops
Under pressure since the
shutdown of the Afungi gas project
, piloted by Total, and the worsening humanitarian situation in the north, Maputo has also seen the arrival on its territory of soldiers sent by its neighbors. Latest announcement: South Africa plans a contingent of up to a maximum of nearly 1,500 soldiers. Botswana sent just under three hundred soldiers earlier this week. And a team of Angolan advisers is announced for early August.
If we can expect military success against the insurgents in the coming weeks, secondly, believes Professor Eric Morier-Genoud, the latter will counter-attack in one way or another, or will retreat to new territories and "this war risks changing its nature".
According to the UNHCR, the conflict in northern Mozambique has caused tens of thousands of deaths and injuries since 2017.
It has also displaced more than 700,000 people in the provinces of Cabo Delgado, Nampula, Niassa, Sofala and Zambézia.
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