Mozambique’s navy, the US and 15 other nations begin on Tuesday an 11-day naval exercise in the city of Pemba, province of Cabo Delgado, which ends on 7 February.
A joint press release from the Ministry of National Defence and US embassy in Maputo, said the exercise called “Cutlass Express 2019”, also includes the holding of a Symposium of Senior Leaders in the city of Maputo from 4 to 7 February 2019, co-organized with the African Center for Strategic Studies.
“The exercise was designed to strengthen multilateral cooperation between naval forces operating in the Indian Ocean and will focus on the development of skills related to the identification, approach and pursuit of suspicious vessels at sea”.
Illicit trafficking in drugs, flora and fauna products and human beings is a continuing challenge for Mozambique, the United States and partner countries around the world, the statement said.
It should be noted that, along with 11 other East African and Indian Ocean nations, Mozambique signed the Jeddah Amendment to the Djibouti Code of Conduct 2017, which offers it the possibility of creating national and regional capacities to respond to the wider problems of safety, with a view to the sustainable development of the maritime sector.
With the sponsorship and facilitation of the “Cutlass Express 2019”, according to the statement, the United States supports the implementation of the Jeddah Amendment.
The “Cutlass Express” exercise changes its location each year, and this year (2019) represents the ninth year of a naval exercise to strengthen cooperation and interoperability between the military forces of the partner nations.