by Christopher Makaza
Government has dismissed allegations by some opposition elements that it has deployed troops to Mozambique to help its eastern neighbour crush an Islamist insurgency in the Cabo Delgado region that has been plagued by violence for the past three years.
The unfounded claims came after President Emmerson Mnangagwa met his Mozambican counterpart Filipe Nyusi on April 30 in Chimoio where the two leaders discussed on security situation in their countries, condemning the insurgency acts which seek to undermine efforts towards peace and development.
Dismissing the allegations on his Twitter handle, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Permanent Secretary Nick Mangwana said, “Zimbabwe has not deployed the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) in Mozambique.”
Mozambique last month said its security forces killed at least 129 insurgents in the gas-rich northernmost province.
Since 2017, infrequent but violent raids on government buildings and villages by militias with suspected links to the Islamic State have intensified in Mozambique.
Security officials in that country have struggled to contain the attacks. Since his re-election in January, President Nyusi has vowed to dedicate more resources to the fight against the insurgency.
The Islamic jihadists fighting in Mozambique, France Al Rasak,revealed that it also intended to attack Zimbabwe. The group posted on its Twitter handle accusing former MDC leader Nelson Chamisa of not seeking their help to ‘liberate’ Zimbabwe, and offered to house him in Lebanon for his exile. France Al Rasak said, “Why Chamisa fear to say Haftar help me to fight them and we can house him in exile in Lebanon until you win country and I come for peaceful revolution? Why? He must man up because civilian of Allah is dying of hunger and military steal and can’t hand power unless defeated (sic).”
This is not good news for the opposition party as association with terrorists elements will lead them on a collision course with their main financial sponsor, the Americans, who are in the forefront fighting terrorism in many parts of the world.
The insurgency in Mozambique is not only a threat in that country but the region at large. Political analysts said through SADC, Zimbabwe should have since intervened to assist Mozambique since they share a lot of resources that the insurgents are exploiting.
“We have the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park which Zimbabwe jointly owns with Mozambique and South Africa. These terrorists are poaching there, killing the Big Five for sale to fund their operations. So this is not Mozambique’s exclusive security concern,” said Marjory Mutasa, a political science lecturerer.
The Zimbabwe Defence Forces is a professional force which has a rich history of contributing to international peace and security dating back to 1991 when the United Nations (UN) extended its maiden request to Zimbabwe to contribute troops to the peacekeeping mission in Angola (UNAVEM I).
Following their success in the above stated mission, the ZDF was subsequently invited to deploy military observers in other UN peacekeeping missions in countries including Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan, Liberia, Nepal, South Sudan and Ivory Coast to name just but a few.
On the regional and continental front, the ZDF is also contributing to international peace and stability by co-operating with other SADC and AU member states through their contributions to SADC Standby Brigade and the Africa Standby Force respectively.
