Maputo — Mozambican Defence Minister Cristovao Chume on Thursday asked new military attaches to share knowledge with the Mozambican defence forces in ordered to assist them in the eradication of terrorism.

He was speaking in Maputo when he received the credentials from the military attaches of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Portugal and Ukraine.

He told them that Mozambique has been a target of terrorist groups, in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, since October 2017. To fight against terrorism, said Chume, the Mozambican state "prioritises a multi-dimensional approach, which consists of both a military response, and the implementation of local development programmes in the affected areas'.

In its military response, he added, the Mozambican government counts on the support of the Rwanda Defence Force, and of the military mission of SADC (Southern African Development Community).

The country, he said, also enjoys support in training provided by the United States and by the European Union "which has boosted the combative capacity of our defence and security forces'.

But to fight against the scourge of terrorism, Chume also requested a sharing of knowledge.

"We would like to ask the new defence attaches to share their rich knowledge with the Mozambican Armed Forces (FADM) in order to achieve the great goal which is the eradication of terrorism and of the other threats which weaken the Mozambican state', urged Chume.

"We encourage the new attaches to work hard to stimulate the cooperation activities under way, as well as to uncover opportunities that may be in the common interests of our respective states', he declared.