In the months of July and August 2021, Rwandan and Mozambican troops quickly dislodged insurgents from major towns and villages in Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique's northernmost Province.
They killed and captured a significant number of the terrorists and their leaders, seized a substantial quantity of weapons, and rescued hundreds of civilians from the hands of the terrorists. Within a month, the Ansar al Sunnah wal Jama'a terrorists were dislodged from their strongholds in Mocimboa da Praia and Palma Districts.
The joint forces did "a very good job," according to locals and officials there.
The first batch of a total of 1,000 soldiers and police flew to Cabo Delgado, in July 2021, under a bilateral security and defense cooperation agreement between Rwanda and Mozambique. Their mission was to assist the Government of Mozambique in restoring state authority in Cabo Delgado Province.
In 2022, Rwandan and Mozambican forces pursued the terrorists further south in Ancuabe District.
Maj. Gen. Tiago Alberto Nampele, the Commander of the Mozambique Defence Forces, told reporters in Mocimboa da Praia on Tuesday, December 19, that the enemy has been defeated in most parts of the province. He said that the few remaining terrorists are hiding "in small groups" in Catupa forest, northeast of Macomia District, and 90 to 95 percent of the region earlier taken over by terrorists is secure.
In 2022, Rwandan, Mozambican and Southern African Development Community (SADC) forces also launched offensive operations to destroy terrorists bases in Catupa forest, and rescued over 600 hostages.
Now that peace has returned, at least in the areas where Rwandan and Mozambican security forces combined effort to restore state authority, all that the population wants, among others, is to settle down, grow crops and feed themselves again.
"Tunashukuru" (Swahili for, we are thankful) is a word you hear so often when talking to people in Mocimboa da Praia and Palma Districts about the joint operations the Rwanda Security Forces (RSF) and their Mozambican counterparts launched in 2021 to fight the Islamic State-linked terrorists.
Up to 250,000 people have returned to their homes in Mocimboa da Praia, Palma and Ancuabe Districts where the RSF operates. Economic activity resumed in the coastal towns, and rural areas, and there is hope, as people there look to the future.
Albino Passe, a manager at a power station in Awasse, in Mocimboa da Praia, which supplies electricity to five regions, said that thanks to the operations of the Rwandan and Mozambican security forces, they were able to repair equipment which had been burnt by the terrorists and now it is fully operational.
"We haven't had any incidents since the time they [Rwandan troops] came. Today, this central power supply station serves electricity to all five districts: Mocimboa da Praia, Palma, Nangade, Muidumbe, and Mueda. The power supply is stable and we can satisfy energy demand in all those districts," he said.
Hamadi Marquez, a fisherman in Quionga, a town in Palma District, who had fled to neighbouring Tanzania, returned home and carried on with his life, despite the challenges.
"Here, our lives depend on two main activities, fishing and farming," he said on Monday, December 18.
"Although we haven't been able to sell more fish like we used to sell before the war, at least we can go fishing without any fear of being attacked by terrorists. We are very thankful to the Rwandan soldiers who restored peace. I wish the peace we have today lasted longer," Marquez said.
At night, Rwandan and Mozambican forces go on joint patrols in the towns where businesses including bars, and barbershops, are open after 9PM.
"There's stability in terms of security, where people move freely without any conditions," Cabo Delgado Governor Valige Tauabo said at a news briefing on December 17, in Palma.
"This is what the province, the country and the world need because Cabo Delgado is shared by people from all over the world."
On the joint operations by Rwanda Security Forces and the Mozambican army in Cabo Delgado, Governor Tauabo said "they have done a very good job."
"We are very happy for the collaboration which they [RSF] have with our national troops - the good relation."
Asked about what the Mozambican authorities and Rwandan Security Forces are doing to ensure peace is sustained, Tauabo said: "Everything has to be sustainable. To sustain the confidence of the people for this moment where we are seeing stability is very important.
"But this is not easy," he acknowledged, adding: "This is not an issue you can solve now or tomorrow."
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
"It will take time. But the time it will take, and considering that we are taking steps, people will continue to be confident of it."
Mwanaalili Mwidini Asuadi, an elderly woman living in a new village - formerly a camp for internally displaced people - built by French oil company, Total, in Quitunda, only wants to till her land, peacefully.
"So many people have died," Asuadi told The New Times on Monday, as she waited in line to get her share of maize and cassava seeds donated by a Mozambican private company.
"Now that peace has returned, we wish to go to the fields, grow crops and be able to feed ourselves again," she said.
Irene Nhassala Njueka, a 50-year-old head of five villages in Mocimboa da Praia, fled with her family and neighbours in 2020 and returned in 2022.
"Upon return, we found our houses destroyed. But since then, we have had peace. And we are thankful," Njueka said.
"Those of us who could cut the trees, they did so as to make shelter for their children. We are starting afresh."
Lately, the Rwandan contingent, divided into two components--military and police--with a Level II field hospital, comprises more than 3,000 troops, under the command of Maj. Gen. Alex Kagame.
