The President of Rwanda Paul Kagame has sent members of defence forces and officers from Rwanda’s national police to northern Mozambique.
The move is in response to a request for support in the gas-rich nation’s battle against the growing Islamist extremist insurgency which has claimed over 2,000 lives and displaced 700,000 people.
The mission is to begin on July 15 for at least three months and the length of this mission could be extended.
SADC Military experts recommend that 3,000 soldiers with arms, helicopters, aeroplanes and naval capacity be sent to Mozambique where the insurgency that erupted in Cabo Delgado province in 2017 continues to intensify.
The insurgents have held the port of Mocimboa da Praia since August last year and have repeatedly attacked the strategic centre of Palma forcing the French energy firm Total to suspend its 20 billion US dollar liquefied natural gas project.
The Rwandan and regional interventions come as the insurgent attacks in northern Cabo Delgado province intensify, with rebels targeting villages and islands and beheading some residents.
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