South Africa is Sending Troops to Mozambique

By AFP

Jul 29, 2021 06:28 PM

South Africa is sending almost 1,500 troops to Mozambique to help its neighbor battle jihadists wreaking havoc in the gas-rich north of the country, part of a growing multinational force there.

In a statement on Wednesday, parliament said President Cyril Ramaphosa had authorized the deployment of as many as 1,495 soldiers to support Mozambique in its fight against "acts of terrorism and violent extremists." 

Attacks have escalated in northern Mozambique over the past year, fueling fears that    violence could spill over into neighboring countries.

Since 2017, the Cabo Delgado region has been battered by a bloody jihadist insurgency that has killed more than 3,100 people, according to conflict data tracker ACLED, and displaced more than 800,000 people.

The three-month mission for South Africa's force - from July 15 to October 15 - is part of a deal agreed in June by the 16 nations of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The operation is expected to cost the country more than 984 million rand (about $66 million), said the parliamentary statement.

South Africa is the latest country in the region to dispatch troops to Mozambique after Botswana, which sent soldiers on Monday. Earlier in July, Rwanda sent in a 1,000-strong force.

The SADC approved the deployment of its "Standby Force"  in late June to help smoke out the Islamic State-linked militants that have been terrorizing its gas-rich north for nearly four years.

The total force size of the SADC regional deployment is not yet known.