Staff Reporter

His Excellency, the President of Zimbabwe, Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday joined other SADC Heads of States for the Extraordinary Summit of the Heads of State and Government  in Maputo, Mozambique, where they agreed to deploy a Standby Force Mission to combat terrorism in that country.

This has been the third summit to be held in Mozambique following the acts of terrorism and violent acts in Mozambique’s Province of Cabo Delgado. The first summit was held in April this year with the second one in May, where in both instances the summit expressed solidarity with the Mozambican Government and people. The previous summits looked at possible regional responses to terrorism and ensuring lasting peace and security in Mozambique.

According to a communiqué released after the summit yesterday, the SADC Standby Force Mission will be deployed in Mozambique to combat the acts of terrorism in the country.

“The Summit endorsed the recommendations of the Report of the Chairperson of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation and approved the mandate for the SADC Standby Force Mission to the Republic of Mozambique, to be deployed in support of Mozambique to combat terrorism and acts of violent extremism in Cabo Delgado.

“Summit urged the member States in collaboration with Humanitarian Agencies to continue providing humanitarian support to the population affected by the terrorist attacks, in Cabo Delgado, including the internally displaced persons,” read the communiqué.

Present at the summit were Heads of States from Botswana, DRC, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Eswatini, Angola, Comoros, Madagascar, Namibia, Mauritius, Zambia and Zimbabwe.