The US government, through the head of the US Africa Command (Africom), General Michael Langley, has admitted to supplying non-lethal military equipment to Mozambique. On Wednesday, the US general said he had been "impressed" by the results of the fight against terrorism in Cabo Delgado.
"I'm here on a learning campaign, because Mozambique and its partners throughout SADC, and also with some of the other African partners, have been very successful, especially in Cabo Delgado. And we are learning from that, with very effective means, and we are very impressed. And that's what the discussions with the President were about," explained the US general, after meeting with the head of state in Maputo.
According to the Africom commander, and quoted by Lusa, the meeting with the Mozambican Head of State, Filipe Nyusi, served to discuss US support for the creation of "operational capacity" in Mozambique in the fight against terrorism, "mainly" through the training component, but also in the supply of equipment.
"I'm not going to go into detail about what the President has asked for, but I do know that it will probably be in terms of uniforms first. So non-lethal aid at the moment," explained Michael Langley, after the meeting with the Mozambican head of state.
The general added that the supply of equipment to Mozambique's Security and Defense Forces (FDS) will depend on the negotiations that will take place immediately after the "formal request" that the government will have to submit.
"Therefore, there is no schedule for this supply at the moment," he acknowledged.
He insisted that the US government was giving priority to a plan to "increase the partnership" with Mozambique and to "increase local capacity".
"It starts with training, but progresses to what is possible. What we can do is help equip them," he said, recalling that in recent years Africom has already developed programs to support the Mozambican Armed Forces, which will continue.
The province of Cabo Delgado has been facing armed insurgency for almost six years, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.
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