Southern African leaders meet to address urgent security threats in Mozambique

The Southern African Development Community (SADC)'s body focused on politics, defense and security met in Harare, Zimbabwe, on May 19, to discuss the security situation in Mozambique, — where insurgents have unleashed a reign of terror, killing civilians and attacking infrastructure in the northern region since 2017.

This meeting comes on the heels of Mozambique’s most recent fight against the insurgency without any regional support.

On May 13, Mozambique’s First Defense and Security Forces (FDS) surprised insurgents when they intercepted three vehicles — allegedly stolen — in the district of Mocímboa da Praia, said Amade Miquidade, in a statement to the press in Maputo. During these clashes, the FDS killed 42 alleged insurgents and destroyed their vehicles. Two days later, an insurgent group tried to invade the district again. FDS forces clashed with insurgents and shot eight insurgents while others were injured.

SADC states have been urged to support Mozambique’s government to fight against terrorists and armed groups attacking civilians and infrastructure in Cabo Delgado Province in the northeast of the country.

Armed groups claiming ties to ISIS have been attacking civilians since 2017 with local police and government workers bearing the brunt of armed attacks. The insurgency has killed more than 1,000 people in Mozambique. The Islamist armed group is known locally as Al-Sunna wa Jama’a (ASWJ).

In an official communique, SADC leaders collectively condemned what it termed “terrorist attacks” and committed unspecified support to Mozambique.

The urgent meeting known as the “Troika Summit” was convened by Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa and attended by Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi, and Zambia President Edgar Lungu, both members of SADC's security body.

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi opened the meeting by briefing attendees on the security situation in his country.

“The extraordinary organ Troika Summit plus Mozambique urged SADC member states to support the government of Mozambique in fighting the terrorists and armed groups in some districts of Cabo Delgado,” read aloud Zimbabwean Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Sibusiso Moyo at the meeting.

Mnangagwa expressed pointed out that the threat of terrorism in the past decade had significantly increased. He told the summit that any attack on a SADC member state is an attack on other members.

SADC leaders offered reassurance that the region remains “relatively stable, despite the occurrence of some worrying situations, including the acts of terrorism perpetrated in Cabo Delgado.”