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| Some Mozambicans gathered at the Pemba Sports centre for aid |
BEIRA CITY (Mozambique), Feb 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Zimbabwe has donated grain to victims of terror attacks in Mozambique’s northern province of Cabo Delgado.
Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa said this is part of supporting efforts to fight the extremists, in addition to the troops it deployed last year.
He handed over the 1,000 tonnes of grain to his Mozambican counterpart Filipe Nyusi in Beira city, central Mozambique, during a one-day State visit Friday.
Mnangagwa was in Mozambique to witness the commissioning of locomotives and 150 wagons that the neighbouring country sourced from India.
Nyusi said Zimbabwe is playing a significant role in fighting terrorism in his country.
“I want to thank President Mnangagwa for his donation of 1,000 tonnes [of grain] to the victims of terrorism,” he said.
“The kind gesture will go a long way. Also, Zimbabwe has been very supportive in terms of security.
“We have Zimbabwean officers participating in the training and development of our soldiers who are fighting against terrorism here. Mozambique will remain a partner of economic development of Zimbabwe.”
Zimbabwe deployed military officers to train the Mozambican army as part of a Southern African Development Community (Sadc) intervention in Cabo Delgado last July.
Nyusi said the Mozambican soldiers trained by Zimbabwean officers played a key role in defeating the insurgents.
“We are also exploring areas of power and energy. We are neighbours and we will have partnerships so that we must not have the language of politics only,” he said.
“I also told President Mnangagwa that the youth trained by Zimbabwean officers fought and resisted terrorists from occupying Paimar in Chimoio.
“We commend Zimbabwe for that”.
Mnangagwa said Zimbabwean soldiers will remain in Mozambique until the insurgents are defeated.
“If we allow terrorism to spread it will affect our region,” he said. “So we need to deal with it from the source.”
SADC agreed last year to send troops to Cabo Delgado to quell the insurgency that had displaced thousands of people and disrupted billion-dollar oil and gas projects in the northern part of the country.
Rwanda, which is not part of Sadc, also deployed troops in the same region and has been credited for the rapid military success against the insurgency that began in 2017. — NNN-AGENCIES
