Research by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) has identified "deep divisions," a kind of mutual ignorance among the foreign troops deployed to fight terrorism in Cabo Delgado province.

The portal noticiasaominuto (via Lusa) reports that there is almost no dialogue between African Union (AU) troops and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and that the regional bloc has not yet held "high-level discussions with Rwanda.

"ISS research reveals deep divisions in Mozambique over Rwandan and SADC deployments. Civil society organizations in the country question the transparency and funding of the Rwandan deployment" points out Liesl Louw-Vaudran, ISS principal investigator.

The SADC regional bloc has sent three thousand soldiers to Cabo Delgado as part of the SADC Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM), and Rwanda has sent two thousand soldiers to confront the Islamic State.

"The SADC deployment is flagged in official AU documents as part of its African Standby Force. But so far there has been little communication between SADC and the AU in this regard," stresses the study signed by Liesl Louw-Vaudran.

"ISS research reveals deep divisions in Mozambique over Rwandan and SADC deployments. Civil society organizations in the country question the transparency and funding of the Rwandan deployment," the researcher adds.

ISS reveals that terrorism still continues to sweep across Cabo Delgado province and suggests that "joint strategies with security forces pulling in the same direction would lead to a much better outcome."

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) considers it premature to encourage people to return to their home areas.

Louw-Vaudran explains that Rwanda believes that eradicating terrorism in the northern province of Mozambique "is vital for its own security," but "tensions between SADC and Rwanda," dating back to disagreements over election results in the Democratic Republic of Congo in early 2019, "persist."

Whenever there have been SADC meetings to discuss the situation in Mozambique, Rwanda has not been invited. The last meeting of the ministers of the SADC organ of Politics, Defense and Security took place on April 03, in Pretoria, South Africa. Since there are still incursions of terrorists in the region the expectation is that the heads of state of the bloc ratify a decision to extend the mission for another three months, until July 15, 2022.

The ISS believes that the AU "could help" ensure the success of "African solutions" for Mozambique, it "has experience" in this area and "most of its resolutions stress the need to address issues that lead to violent extremism."

However, he adds, member states of the pan-African organization "rarely adhere to these policies, and some see coordination between the AU and regional economic communities, such as SADC, "as a hindrance rather than a benefit."

"The first AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) discussion on SAMIM did not take place until January 2022, six months after its deployment. The PSC retroactively approved the mission and requested funding and material assistance for the force," ISS stresses.

The AU considers SAMIM as "one of the first deployments of the African Standby Force" - a central cog in the organization's peace and security apparatus, but while the protocols for the use of this force stipulate that coordination is required, particularly by the chairperson of the AU Commission, "this has not yet happened in the case of Mozambique," stresses the South African think tank.

In contrast, SADC also only sought AU support "when it needed funding to extend the mission's mandate beyond the first six months," the study highlights.

Earlier this month, SADC received an initial €2 million from the European Union through its Rapid Response Mechanism, and now hopes to access funding from the AU Peace Fund, which has $230 million from member states' contributions.