Maputo — The Southern African Development Community Military Mission to Mozambique (SAMIM), which had been helping Mozambican forces fight Islamist terrorists in the northern province of Cabo Delgado since July 2021, has formally left the country as a result of the end of its mandate.
During its involvement in the fight against terrorists, SAMIM - which included forces from eight countries, namely Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia - succeeded in recovering those regions which had once been controlled by the jihadists.
The official closure of the Mission and its farewell ceremony, took place on Thursday in the Cabo Delgado provincial capital, Pemba, in the presence of the Mozambican Defence Minister, Cristóvão Chume.
Although SAMIM has left the country, Mozambique can still count on the support of some military forces from friendly countries, on a bilateral basis. So far, contingents from Tanzania and Rwanda have publicly expressed their intention to remains in Mozambique.
Chume declared "we recognize that with the bravery of the SAMIM soldiers, we made progress that we would not have made on our own, at least in the short term. We made progress by destroying the terrorist bases, reducing terrorist attacks.'
"It helped us to return to the normal functioning of public and private institutions, as well as the resumption of the development of economic activities', he added.
However, some districts of Cabo Delgado continue to be abandoned because the residents, including state employees, still fear terrorist attacks.
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SAMIM, the minister said, brought a significant improvement in the security situation in general.
"These results, which embody the success achieved in the fight against terrorism, have given SAMIM an important role in addressing the threat posed by terrorism in our region. At the same time, the progress is a victory for SADC, which is in the spirit of brotherhood and mutual aid between the countries of the region. It represents the high level of regional solidarity within the framework of SADC', Chume said.
"We would therefore like to use this unique opportunity to reiterate our gratitude to all our sister SADC countries, the countries contributing personnel and the SADC Secretariat, for their immeasurable support in the fight against terrorism in Cabo Delgado', he added.
For his part, the head of SAMIM, Mpho Molomo, declared that the progress of the Mission's intervention had significantly improved the security situation in Cabo Delgado. He said SADC will continue to support Mozambique to end terrorism, but in a different way.
"We want to ensure that we never leave Mozambique behind. Our commitment to Mozambique is to continue walking together, in line with the SADC Mutual Defence Pact', he said.
He also highlighted the heroism of the soldiers who fell in combat in defense of the region's security, stressing that their names are on the list of African heroes who perished for the liberation of their countries.
Molomo, at the occasion, also handed over to Mozambican forces around three hundred weapons and electronic equipment, communication radios, books and letters, captured from terrorist bases during the various SAMIM operations.
