The Southern African Development Community (SADC) on Monday launched a Regional Counter Terrorism Center based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, for the region to deal with threats such as the armed insurgency in northern Mozambique.

"While significant progress has been made in implementing the SADC Regional Counter-Terrorism Strategy, there is still a need for further action," such as "comprehensive legislation and policies," said the organization's executive secretary, Elias Mpedi Magosi, quoted in a statement released Monday and cited by Lusa.

In particular, he advocated the "strengthening of national counter-terrorism centers and financial intelligence units," as well as "the capacity to counter the spread of radicalization through social media and the Internet."

Stergomena Lawrence Tax, Tanzania's defense minister, highlighted the role of the new center in "cooperation to control and combat terrorist acts, including the exchange of experience in the African region and internationally."

Its creation "will allow SADC to work more efficiently and effectively in the fight against terrorism," he stressed.

SADC heads of state and government approved the Regional Counter-Terrorism Strategy and its Action Plan at the August 2015 summit in Gaborone, Botswana.

It was at this meeting that the need to create the now-opened center, a body to "facilitate cooperation" in the fight against terrorism, was underscored.