The European Union (EU) will step up support for Mozambique and cooperation with South Africa to tackle the "terrorist threat" in Cabo Delgado province, the Commission announced today.

"South Africa is an indispensable player in a region that is facing a variety of political and security challenges, so we will expand our cooperation on peace and security, especially through EU support for the Southern African Development Community [SADC] and the military mission in Cabo Delgado," said European Commission spokeswoman Nabila Massrali, during a press conference in Brussels (Belgium).

The decision, explained the spokeswoman, quoted by Lusa, followed a bilateral meeting between the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, and the South African government last week.

"The terrorist threat in northern Mozambique has not been completely eliminated and continues to worry us," said Nabila Massrali, which is why the EU bloc will step up its support for Maputo in coordination with Pretoria, particularly through military training missions.

Nabila Massrali recalled that in September last year, Brussels increased its support for the Cabo Delgado region with a package of 15 million euros for the purchase of "non-military equipment".

On Monday, Pretoria announced a SADC meeting to be held today to discuss the situation in the kingdoms of Swaziland and Lesotho, as well as the conflict in Cabo Delgado.

The province 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.

The conflict has already caused more than 4,000 deaths (data from The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project) and at least one million displaced people, according to an assessment made by the Mozambican authorities.

Since July 2022, a military offensive by Maputo, with support from Rwanda and later SADC, has led to a climate of greater security in the region that had not been felt for years, and has recovered locations that were controlled by the rebels, such as the town of Mocímboa da Praia, which had been occupied since 2020.