The Cabo Delgado Provincial Prosecutor revealed that four people have been arrested this year on charges of financing terrorism and that 152 terrorism-related cases are currently being investigated.

In total, according to the attorney general's office, there are 35 prisoners in the province accused of related crimes.

Octávio Manuel, who was speaking at the opening of the II Provincial Meeting of the Public Prosecutor's Office and SERNIC, on Friday 17th in Pemba, added that the Public Prosecutor's Office is investigating, in coordination with the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC), all the sources of logistics for the terrorists operating in Cabo Delgado.

"One of the biggest challenges for the Prosecutor's Office and SERNIC is to understand the nuances and specificities of these practices in order to block the sources of revenue and consequently de-stabilize the entire logistical process of terrorists, to contain and prevent financial transactions related to terrorism, terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction as one of the greatest and most effective ways to combat this evil," said the Chief Provincial Prosecutor in Cabo Delgado, quoted by VOA.

Octávio Manuel stressed that "the justice authorities have an important role to play in preventing the province of Cabo Delgado from becoming a focus for the spread of terrorism to other provinces through the application of exemplary coercive measures".

For the prosecutor, the authorities still have a responsibility to prevent terrorism from spreading to the rest of the region, and it is "necessary to dismantle the main sources of funding for the extremist group and hold the perpetrators accountable.

For his part, the director of the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) in Cabo Delgado, Sinêsio Dias, acknowledged the institution's challenges in the investigation due to the lack of sophisticated material resources to prevent and investigate complex crimes such as those linked to terrorism.

"We are aware of the challenges we face in guaranteeing an investigation that is up to the level of complex crime in the case of terrorism and its financing, money laundering including related crimes, you know that for a swift, effective and efficient criminal investigation we must have properly trained and trained staff, adequate material means and sophisticated equipment, decent and properly equipped infrastructures with a view to the smooth running of SERNIC," he said.

The province of Cabo Delgado has been plagued by terrorism since 2017, which has led to the death of more than a thousand civilians and the displacement of more than a million people from their areas of origin.