Johannesburg – The European Union’s top diplomat said on Thursday the bloc was committed to help Mozambique fight “against terrorism”, as he unveiled new military aid for the country a day after a deadly jihadist attack.
Josep Borrell held security talks with Mozambique’s president Filipe Nyusi and Foreign Minister Veronica Macamo in the capital Maputo after arriving in the southern African nation for a two-day visit.
“I wanted to express the commitment and the solidarity of the European Union with Mozambique in fighting against terrorism,” Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, told a press conference.
The diplomat said the EU on Thursday approved €15 million ($15 million) in additional military aid to support a regional mission in the restive northern province of Cabo Delgado.
The money will provide equipment including camp fortifications and vehicles, and adds to the previously agreed €89 million in assistance earmarked for the Mozambican armed forces, the EU said in a statement.
Meeting President Nyusi, we discussed situation in #CaboDelgado and comprehensive approach we need to tackle terrorism.
We also committed to strengthening our cooperation in the multilateral arena, also since #Mozambique will be non-permanent UNSC member of as of next year#AUEU pic.twitter.com/EAUbFOuGaI
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) September 8, 2022
Macamo described relations with the EU as “excellent”, while Nyusi praised the bloc’s support, including the creation of a military base to train Mozambican forces, which Borrell is due to visit tomorrow.
Borrell’s trip came one day after an Italian nun was killed in an attack on a missionary compound in the Nampula province.
It was claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group, which has been waging an insurgency in the north of the country.
On Wednesday, Nyusi said six people were killed in a series of jihadist attacks in the region.
The province had previously been spared the worst of the violence, which has focused on gas-rich Cabo Delgado.
Borrell said it was a “stark reminder that the fight against terrorism is not over, and that unhappily it is spreading out of the Cabo Delgado region”.
Vast natural gas deposits were discovered in Cabo Delgado in 2010, the largest ever found south of the Sahara.
But since 2017, the region has been hit by a jihadist insurgency that has killed more than 4,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands more.
Some 3,100 troops from several African countries were deployed in the region last year and retook control over much of the territory.
This has prompted the jihadists to break up into smaller cells and stage attacks further south in a bid to stretch security forces, analysts say.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Twitter/@JosepBorrellF
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