The head of the Division for Pan-African Affairs at the European External Action Service defended a few days ago a multidimensional action against terrorism in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, because violent extremism cannot be defeated only on a military level.

"Terror cannot be won only with soldiers and weapons, peace must be won, and in parallel with supporting security [in Cabo Delgado], we work closely with the Mozambican government on social and economic development, humanitarian assistance, education, nutrition, water supply, and mitigating the impact of climate change," said Nicola Bellomo quoted by Lusa news agency.

Bellomo was speaking on the theme "Combating terrorism in sub-Saharan Africa" at the 42nd Session of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly in Maputo.

"While security measures remain critical to containing the terrorist threat, it has become clear that no amount of force is going to fundamentally change the landscape of terrorism in Africa," he said.

The success of the fight against terrorism, he continued, depends on the removal of the causes used by violent extremism to expand its activities on the African continent.

In this regard, he advocated protecting youth from the risk of radicalization and recruitment by armed groups.

Nicolas Bellomo also pointed to good governance, respect for human rights, and community integration policies as essential in the fight against terrorism.

Bellomo emphasized that radicalism requires international cooperation, given the mobility of terrorist cells and the transnational nature of their financing.

One of the successful examples in the fight against extremism, he continued, is the cooperation between Mozambican, Rwandan, and Southern African Development Community (SADC) government forces in Cabo Delgado.

This coordination has allowed Mozambique to register one of the largest reductions in deaths by the action of armed groups in the world, he added.

Cabo Delgado province has been terrorized since 2017 by armed violence, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.

The insurgency led to a military response a year ago with support from Rwanda and SADC, liberating districts near gas projects, but new waves of attacks have emerged in the south of the region and in neighboring Nampula province.

In five years, the conflict has already caused one million displaced people, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and about 4,000 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project. (Lusa)