The Southern African Development Community (SADC) today highlighted "great progress" by the military mission supporting Mozambique in the fight against terrorism in Cabo Delgado.

"I am pleased to highlight that the SADC Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) has made great progress in restoring peace and security in Cabo Delgado," said South Africa's Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Naledi Pandor, speaking during the opening of the 24th Ministerial Meeting of the SADC Organ on Cooperation in Politics, Defence and Security, being held in Pretoria, South Africa.

According to the South African diplomatic chief, in addition to the military mission on the ground, SADC is developing support programs for local communities through the African Union's Early Response Mechanism.

"These are efforts aimed at contributing to the ongoing reconstruction in Cabo Delgado, under the plan defined by the Government of Mozambique," added Naledi Pandor, highlighting terrorism as a threat that requires regional cooperation."

Furthermore, regional efforts to prevent and combat the proliferation of weapons should be intensified and encouraged. In this regard, member states should strengthen and prioritize the implementation of the SADC protocol on the control of firearms, ammunition and other related materials," he added.

On Thursday, the SADC provisionally extended its military mission that combats armed groups in northern Mozambique. The decision was taken during an extraordinary summit of the "troika" of SADC heads of state and government, meeting in virtual format and in which Mozambique was represented by the head of state, Filipe Nyusi.

The interim extension of the Southern African troop deployment will last until the "consideration and appraisal" of SAMIM's comprehensive report by the ordinary summit of SADC heads of state and government, scheduled for August 17-18, 2022, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Cabo Delgado province is rich in natural gas, but terrorized since 2017 by armed rebels, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.

There are about 800,000 internally displaced people due to the conflict, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and about 4,000 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project.

Since July 2021, an offensive by government troops with Rwandan support, later joined by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), allowed the rebels to recover areas where they had been present, but their flight has provoked new attacks in other districts used as passage or refuge (Lusa, via RTP).