The Southern African Development Community Military Mission (SAMIM) is to receive 1.9 million euros from the European Union (EU) to strengthen its counter-terrorism operations in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique.

The EU ambassador in Mozambique confirmed that this amount has already been approved "and we are now exploring other possibilities to support the forces on the ground.

António Sánchez-Benedito Gaspar was speaking in Maputo after a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Verónica Macamo.

This EU support follows under the "SADC Rapid Response Mechanism in Cabo Delgado" and will cover a period of five months, with priorities being capacity building of local police forces, women empowerment programs, and dialogues with local leadership on good governance issues.

In addition to this support, the EU has approved a total of 89 million euros for training and capacity building for Mozambican troops under the European Peace Facility.

Earlier this month, the heads of state of the SADC member countries approved the transition to a "more robust mandate" focused on stabilizing the achievements made by the organization's forces supporting Mozambique in fighting terrorism in Cabo Delgado, where reconstruction is already underway in several points that were dominated by rebels.