Sadc should deploy soldiers in Mozambique
SURELY, the regional bloc cannot continue to fold its arms and watch from a distance while insurgents run amok in Cabo Degaldo, a gas-rich province in northern Mozambique.
Islamic insurgents calling themselves Ahlu Sunnah wa Jamaa (ASWJ) are causing havoc in Cabo Delgado and they have very little respect, if any, for the Mozambican army which they have outshone on numerous occasions.
Since October 2017 the Mozambican military has been battling the insurgents without any success.
The ASWJ insurgents have of late been more determined, mounting even larger, more frequent and daring raids against key government infrastructure even venturing into towns in broad daylight as part of a campaign to establish an Islamic Caliphate in the region.
The attacks are gory, villagers are summarily executed — either shot or beheaded. These attacks have resulted in the loss of thousands of lives and hundreds of thousands more have become internally displaced.
Recently, they fought and captured the coastal town of Mocimboa da Praia, gaining control of a strategic seaport and airport.
Mozambique is failing to deal with the ASWJ, hence the loud call for help by President Filipe Nyusi.
The numerous defeats at the hands of the insurgents over the years forced the Mozambican government to hire mercenaries to prop up the government troops in the war against ASWJ.
The Wagner Group, a mercenary concern from Russia came to Cabo Degaldo, but could not do much and left after losing several men and equipment in a series of ambushes set up by ASWJ.
The next mercenary outfit to be engaged was the Dyck Advisory Group, from South Africa — these use Gazelle helicopter gunships in battle.
However that has not helped much either. Out of desparation and on realising that Southern African Development Community is turning a deaf ear on his cries for help, Nyusi has gone global and is now pleading for help from the European Union.
Defence minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri urged Sadc to intervene. While Sadc is taking forever to put boots on the ground in Cabo Degaldo, the ASWJ insurgents have crossed the northern border and launched attacks in Tanzania .
The Islamic insurgency in Cabo Delgado is already a regional problem and it is naive to expect Mozambique to deal with a regional security threat of this magnitude alone.
If an attack on Mozambique should be treated as an attack on all Sadc States, why then is Nyusi is still struggling alone?
Mozambique definitely needs help and Sadc troops should deploy promptly.
Cassius Sande