The Minister of National Defense, Cristóvão Chume, believes that there are hidden ambitions behind the terrorism that is trying to take hold in Mozambique, with the risk of spilling over into the southern African region.

"Mozambique does not intend to allow this to happen, as we did in the past with colonialism, which wanted to establish itself and flourish. It will be with the same vigor and impetus that we will fight terrorism inch by inch on our home soil," said the Minister of Defense.

During the closing of the Ministerial Meeting of the XII Session of the Mozambique-Zambia Permanent Joint Commission on Defence and Security (CCPDS), Chume made a strong appeal on Thursday in Maputo to those who are financing terrorists to stop doing so, as well as those who are allowing themselves to be instrumentalized, to come back and hand themselves over to the Defence and Security Forces, whether they are national or foreign citizens.

In order to guarantee success, he defended the need to unite counter-terrorism mechanisms to rid the region of this phenomenon.

Quoted by AIM, the Mozambican minister recalled at the opening of the event that the meeting comes at a time when states are witnessing the current international situation characterized by armed conflicts that daily claim human lives and destroy infrastructure, creating political instability and economic setbacks with a global impact.

For his part, Zambian Defense Minister Ambrose Lwiji Lufuma, who led his country's delegation to the meeting, reiterated that the support of the defense and security sector is fundamental to maintaining or carrying out some joint ventures.

"These include the recent modernization and expansion of the port of Nacala and the signing of the development agreements for the Nacala corridor," said the Zambian leader, whose country is one of the beneficiaries of that deep-water port.