Show Of Force In Mozambique's North, But Militant Threat Remains

Quionga, Mozambique, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Oct, 2022 ) :A column of brand-new armoured vehicles is parked outside what remains of a government building in Quionga, a village in Mozambique's restive northern province of Cabo Delgado.

Kalashnikovs on their shoulders, Mozambican soldiers stare at the convoy -- an unusual sight in this northern settlement, which just a year ago was controlled by insurgents who have wreaked havoc across the region.

Senior Rwandan officers are visiting today.

They have come to oversee a joint military operation with their more poorly equipped local counterparts, a show of force to impress residents and the journalists accompanying them.

"We can say to a large extent that the insurgents have been defeated," says Rwandan army spokesman, general Ronald Rwivanga.

But the display of confidence belies a still precarious security situation in the gas-rich region. Only last week, the United Nations warned that the conflict had not subsided.

It has been five years since militants affiliated to the Islamic State launched an insurgency that monitoring groups say has killed more than 4,000 people.

Forces from Rwanda and other African countries, deployed in July 2021 after years of militants attacks, have helped Mozambique retake control of much of the province.

The militants had raided Quionga last year, burning down the local government office and setting up shop in the village. They were using it as a base to carry out attacks on both sides of the nearby Tanzanian border.

Rwandan forces eventually ousted them in August 2021.