The Minister of Defense considered that the operations with the support of foreign forces in Cabo Delgado had resulted in "remarkable progress" in the fight against terrorism in Mozambique.

"Since the deployment of the military mission of the Southern African Development Community (SAMIM) in 2021, the combined actions of this mission, in addition to those of the Armed Forces of Defense of Mozambique, have resulted in remarkable progress, and the support of the military personnel of Rwanda should also be recognized," said Cristóvão Chume, in a speech sent to Lusa today by the Ministry of Defense.

Cristóvão Chume was speaking on Tuesday during a meeting of the Organ on Politics, Defense and Security of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Namibia's capital (Windhoek).

Although he points to progress in the fight against rebel groups in northern Mozambique, he points to the need for "appropriate" measures, since the insurgents' new strategy is to split up into small groups in order to continue carrying out armed attacks.

"The invigorated vigilance of the Armed Defense Forces of Mozambique has not allowed terrorists to expand into other regions of the country, and their pursuit and combat must continue," said Cristóvão Chume.

In the final communiqué of Tuesday's meeting, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) called for the strengthening of the operational capacity of the regional military force in Cabo Delgado.

The regional leaders "expressed condolences" to the governments of the Kingdom of Lesotho, the Republics of Botswana and Zambia and the United Republic of Tanzania "and their families for the loss of their citizens", without giving details of the number of victims.

In addition to the presidents of Namibia, Zambia, South Africa and DRCongo, the extraordinary summit of the Troika of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defense and Security was attended by the heads of government of Lesotho and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland).

The province of Cabo Delgado has been ravaged by a conflict since 2017 that has terrified the population. Groups of armed rebels have pillaged and massacred villages and towns all over the province and a variety of attacks have been claimed by the 'arm' of the self-proclaimed Islamic State in that region.