Mozambican Defense Minister Cristovão Chume said Friday that the Mozambican military trained by Portugal and the European Union (EU) mission are “making a difference” in Cabo Delgado.
Marines and Commandos “They have been able to make a difference in the northern theater of operations”he said, in an official speech during the delivery of equipment to these troops by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell.
In what is the tactical and operational effort, we have positively evaluated the troops. Because of the results”, he underlined.
“From the first companies formed by the Portuguese military cooperation mission, followed by this EU mission, the operational levels that our marines and commandos reached after training exceeded expectations“, he added.
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The EU training mission has been in operation for a year and will last for a further year to support the training of the rapid reaction units of the Mozambican Defense Forces, having already prepared 600 soldiers to fight in Cabo Delgado.
The equipment delivered this Friday to Mozambique at the Katembe military base, on the southern shore of Maputo, is a “invaluable” contribution that will “increase combat capacity”in a conflict that represents a very high cost.
Without providing estimates on the cost of each day of combat in Cabo Delgado, Chume said, however, that the EU is aware of the “operational effort.”
I can’t talk about numbers, but war anywhere in the world is quite expensive,” he said.
Josep Borrell delivered this Friday in Maputo the first batch of non-lethal military material for the Mozambican troops trained by the EU to fight in Cabo Delgado.
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EITHER material support amounts to 89 million euros through the European Fund for Peace.
In his speech during the event, Chume said that the delivery represents “an invaluable contribution.”
Cabo Delgado province is rich in natural gas but has been terrorized since 2017 by armed violence, with some attacks claimed by the Islamic State extremist group.
The insurgency provoked a military response a year ago by Rwandan forces and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), liberating districts close to gas projects, but provoking a new wave of attacks in other, closer areas. to Pemba, the provincial capital, and in the neighboring province of Nampula.
There are around of 800,000 internally displaced due to the conflictaccording to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and around 4,000 deathsaccording to the ACLED conflict register project.
Source: Observadora
