Rwanda has concluded the deployment of some 1,000 personnel of army and police force to Mozambican restive Cabo Delgado province to help combat terrorism, a military source confirmed Monday in Kigali.
Ealier this week, Mozambican President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi confirmed that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) troops will effective July 15 support the efforts to combat terrorism in Cabo Delgado, also that, with the same objective, Rwandan troops began to land in that province.
The government said the forces were deployed at the request of the government of Mozambique.
Reacting to the deployment, the African Union describes the deployment as a strong and concrete act of African solidarity to support a fellow Member State fight terrorism and insecurity.
Taking on twitter, Moussa Faki Mahamat, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC),said “I commend the Republic of Rwanda’s deployment of 1000 RDF & Rwanda National Police members, to Cabo Delgado, at the request of the govt of Mozambique, as a strong and concrete act of African solidarity to support a fellow Member State fight terrorism and insecurity.”
According to the Rwandan government, the deployment is based on the good bilateral relations between Rwanda and Mozambique, following the signing of several agreements between the two countries in 2018.
The deployment is also grounded in Rwanda’s commitment to the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine and the 2015 Kigali Principles on the Protection of Civilians, a statement by the government of Rwanda stressed, it said.
Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province is caught up in a security challenge that has captured global attention.
It has an area of 82,625 km² and a population of 2,320,261.
CU/abj/APA