Rwanda deploys joint force to battle terrorists in Mozambique's Cabo Delgado Province

The Rwandan government has announced that at the request of Mozambique, it is starting the deployment of a 1,000-person contingent of its millitary and police to Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique, which is currently affected by terrorism and insecurity.

Rwanda's Joint Force will work closely with Mozambique Armed Defence Forces (FADM) and forces from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in designated sectors of responsibility.

The Rwandan contingent will support efforts to restore Mozambican state authority by conducting combat and security operations, as well as stabilisation and security-sector reform (SSR), a statement by the Rwandan government reads.

"This deployment is based on the good bilateral relations between the Republic of Rwanda and the Republic of Mozambique, following the signing of several agreements between the two countries in 2018, and is grounded in Rwanda’s commitment to the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine and the 2015 Kigali Principles on the Protection of Civilians."

Earlier this year, the United States blacklisted two Islamist extremist groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Mozambique as foreign terrorist organizations over accusations of links to Islamic State (ISIS).

Mozambique’s Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jama and its leader, Abu Yasir Hassan, were named as “specially designated global terrorists.” The designations prevent travel by members to the United States, freeze any U.S.-related assets, ban Americans from doing business with them and make it a crime to provide support or resources to the movements.

Beginning in October 2017, armed extremists linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) launched an insurgency in the oil rich Cabo Delgado region of Mozambique.

The group sometimes calls themselves al-Shabaab, although they do not have known links with the Somali al-Shabaab.

Mozambique Defence Armed Forces have been battling the extremists. Many civilians have been displaced by the fighting.

The militants launched attacks, and in August 2020 seized the port town of Mocimboa da Praia. Over 50 people were beheaded by the terrorists in the province in April 2020 and a similar number in November 2020.

In September 2020, the ISIL insurgents captured Vamizi Island in the Indian Ocean.

Most recently, on March 24, Islamic State-linked militants launched coordinated attacks on the northern town of Palma, seized it, ransacking buildings, murdering residents and displacing more than 35,000 of the town's 75,000 residents.

Last month, countries in Southern Africa agreed to deploy forces to help quell the bloody jihadist insurgency wreaking havoc in northern Mozambique over the past three years.