Maputo — Former Mozambican president, Joaquim Chissano, believes that education and raising awareness constitute the best ways to fight the terrorism that has been plaguing parts of the northern province of Cabo Delgado since 2017.

Chissano, who was speaking to reporters on Saturday on the sidelines of the celebrations of the 47th anniversary of Mozambican independence in Maputo's Heroes' Square, also pointed to extreme poverty, exacerbated by other social and economic phenomena, as a factor that terrorists use to deceive innocent young people and children into joining their ranks.

"The secret to ending this phenomenon is education and raising the awareness of our people", he said.

According to Chissano, it is not poverty in itself that causes terrorism, but "the terrorists take advantage of poverty. When terrorists see a poor person, it is easier to recruit him than a person who enjoys basic living conditions. So people need to be prepared."

The terrorists, said the former President, preferentially recruit children and young people, and therefore is urgent to prepare these social groups so that they cannot be deceived by terrorists.

"Of course, it will be very difficult (to fight terrorists) because they often recruit children who are vulnerable. It is important that they are prepared to understand the objectives of ill-intentioned people", he stated.

Since October 2017, terrorist attacks have caused the deaths of more than two thousand people in parts of Cabo Delgado and more than 850,000 people have been displaced, triggering a humanitarian crisis.