SADC Defence Chair Slams Mozambique Troops Filmed Burning Bodies

Namibian head of state and chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Organ on Politics, Defence and Security regarding the SADC Mission in Mozambique Hage Geingob said that the he does not not condone acts of extremist violence in Mozambique, Adolf Kaure of the Namibia Economist reports.

"I wish to inform the general public that the SAMIM leadership has instituted investigations to establish the circumstances on the matter, a result of which will be shared once completed," Geingob said.

The South African National Defence Force says an investigation has been launched into the circumstances surrounding a video circulated on social media. The footage shows persons wearing as-yet unidentified defence force uniforms throwing dead bodies into a pile of burning rubble. A uniformed soldier, clearly showing the South African flag on his sleeve, can apparently be seen watching, while filming the scene.

The incident appears to have taken place on November 29, 2022, near Nkonga village, in the Nangade district of Mozambique's Cabo Delgado province where a regional force called SAMIM and Rwandan troops have been fighting insurgents affiliated to the Islamic State since July 2021.

Conflict in Mozambique began in the northernmost province of Cabo Delgado in 2017, with militant attacks that forced close to a million people to become internally displaced. Cabo Delgado is a province rich in natural gas reserves and is host to an estimated U.S.$60 billion worth of international investment in gas projects.

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