Portugal will send 60 more troops to Mozambique as part of a new cooperation agreement aimed at helping the country tackle an insurgency linked to Islamic State in Cabo Delgado provincePortugal's defense minister, João Cravinho, said Monday after signing a framework cooperation agreement between Lisbon and Maputo with his Mozambican counterpart Jaime Neto.

The agreement, which runs until 2026, allows Portugal to train local soldiers to counter the insurgency, share intelligence, and help the country use drones to track the insurgents' movement.

At this moment, 60 Portuguese special forces are already training soldiers in Mozambique, after a major attack in the town of Palma on March 24.

The signing of this new program coincided with the start today of training activities for Mozambican Defense and Security Forces marines in Catembe.

The Portuguese Minister of Defense, João Gomes Cravinho, underlined that the new cooperation program, in the area of defense, is one of continuity, but also of evolution.

"We added an important project to train special Mozambican troops in Catembe and Chimoio, to support the fight against terrorism. This leads us to quadruple the number of Portuguese military personnel in Mozambique," stressed Gomes Cravinho

For his part, the Mozambican Defense Minister, Jaime Neto, when referring to the attacks in Cabo Delgado, said that the international community should look at the balance of these attacks and not turn its back on Mozambique.

"Right now we count two thousand people who have lost their lives between civilians and military personnel. We have more than 800 thousand people displaced. It is a suffering that we think the international community should embrace and support Mozambique", said Jaime Neto, highlighting that the traffic of drugs and human organs are the main causes for the terrorist attacks registered in the last years in the north of Mozambique.

The signing of the new cooperation framework program between Maputo and Lisbon, in Oeiras, Portugal, comes days after the European Union (EU) decided to send a civilian mission to Mozambique.

The European Union may also send between 200 and 300 EU soldiers for training missions, the bloc's diplomatic chief Josep Borrell said in an interview with Portugal's Rádio Renascença on Monday.

Mozambique has been battling insurgency in the far northern province of Cabo Delgado since 2017, but insurgents have increased their violence in the past year.

In March, an attack on Palma, home to the billion-dollar liquefied natural gas project, prompted French giant Total to suspend work and withdraw its staff from the area until safety conditions were met.