The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has agreed to deploy its standby force to Mozambique to help combat a violent Islamist insurgency in that country’s northern province of Cabo Delgado.
The approval came following an extraordinary summit of regional leaders that took place in Maputo on Wednesday, June 23.
In a communiqué, SADC said: “Summit endorsed the recommendations of the Report of the Chairperson of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation and approved the Mandate for the SADC Standby Force Mission to the Republic of Mozambique, to be deployed in support of Mozambique to combat of terrorism and acts of violent extremism in Cabo Delgado.”
It remained unclear how the SADC standby force would be deployed, how many troops would be involved, or when the deployment will begin.
The standby force was part of a regional defence pact that allowed military intervention to prevent the spread of conflict.
Dozens of people died following an attack by Islamist militants, who targeted shops, banks, and a military barracks in Mozambique’s city of Palma in March.
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Militants linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) group were behind the conflict in the predominantly Muslim region.
According to a UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) report released two weeks ago, at least 70 000 people have fled Palma since March 24, bringing the number of displaced people to nearly 800 000.
The UNHCR said in the wake of the attack in Palma, at least 2 000 children have been separated from their parents and do not even know whether their parents are alive.
PICTURE: Facebook/@SADC
By Betha Madhomu
