Southern African countries agreed Thursday (14) to extend troop presence in Mozambique for another month to help fight an insurgency linked to the Islamic State.

The member countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) agreed last year to send troops to Mozambique.

The mission's mandate was scheduled to end on Friday (15), but has been extended on an interim basis until a summit of SADC heads of state in mid-August, when its progress will be assessed.

Since 2017, the insurgency concentrated in the northern province of Cabo Delgado has caused thousands of deaths and displaced people, and disrupted billion-dollar natural gas projects.

Yesterday, at the end of the virtual summit, Lazarus Chakwera, the Malawian statesman who leads SADC, said that the permanence of troops prevents the mission from being compromised.

Separately, the European Union's diplomatic mission in Mozambique said the bloc will provide the country's army with an additional $45 million in financial support.

Mozambique's army could not contain the insurgency until it accepted help from SADC and Rwanda.