Rwanda intends to send more troops to Cabo Delgado province, northern Mozambique, to fill the vacuum left by the departure of the SADC Military Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM), whose mandate expires next July, a senior commander of the Rwanda Defense Forces (RDF) has revealed.

According to the Rwandan authorities, quoted by AIMThe logistics will be financed by new funds from the European Union (EU).

"Rwanda currently has about 2,500 men in Mozambique," Brigadier General Patrick Karuretwa, who heads international cooperation for the Rwandan Defense Forces, told reporters in Kigali, as quoted by the South African portal News24.

The two armies operated in different parts of Cabo Delgado and, at first, did not share information. Later, they cooperated in some operations.

Now, Rwanda is preparing to go it alone.

"The withdrawal of SADC troops forces us to take certain measures. We are going to train Mozambican soldiers to occupy the places where SAMIM was deployed. We are also increasing our troops and making them more mobile to cover more areas," said Karuretwa, noting that Rwanda's intervention had helped restore relative calm in Cabo Delgado. However, pockets of violence still persist.

Earlier this week, the European Union announced that it would disburse nearly 20 million euros to help the RDF mission in Cabo Delgado.

Attacks by Islamic terrorists have killed more than 4,000 people and driven more than a million to seek refuge in safer places.