Luanda – The Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço, on Tuesday took part by video conference in the Summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which addressed the situation in Mozambique.

At the meeting, the SADC leaders assessed the organisation’s military mission in Mozambique; particularly the resources made available, Angolan Foreign Minister, Téte António told the press in Luanda at the end of the video conference.

Regarding the prevailing situation in Cabo Delgado (Mozambique), faced with an armed rebellion, he explained that there is a favourable evolution, although there is still a lot of work to be done.

The Angolan head of diplomacy said that the SADC member countries reiterated their support and engagement in helping Mozambique.

The SADC mission in Mozambique arrived on the ground on 9 August 2021 to “combat acts of terrorism and violent extremism in the northern region of Cabo Delgado province,” with an initial mandate to end on 15 October 2021.

The Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado is rich in natural gas.

It has faced terrorist actions since 2017, with some attacks being claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.

The conflict has caused more than 3,100 deaths and more than 817,000 displaced people, according to Mozambican authorities.

Since July, an offensive by government troops with support from Rwanda, which was joined by the SADC, made it possible to recover several areas where there was a rebel presence, including the town of Mocímboa da Praia, which had been occupied since August 2020.

SADC members are South Africa, Angola, Botswana, Comoros Islands, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, Eswatíni, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Source: Angola Press News Agency