African countries extend troop redeployment to Mozambique

Southern African countries have agreed to extend their troop deployment in Mozambique for another month to help it fight an Islamic state-linked insurgency.

The mission’s mandate was set to end today but has been extended on an interim basis until a SADC heads of state summit in mid-August, when a more detailed report on the mission’s progress will be considered.

The countries, linked in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), agreed last year to send troops to Mozambique following the insurgency in the country’s northern province of Cabo Delgado which has claimed thousands of lives since it broke out in 2017.

SADC chairperson and Malawi president Lazarus Chakwera said the extension of the troop deployment prevented the mission from being compromised.