SADC forces 'neutralised' insurgents – Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa, who chairs SADC's defence and security council, said there had been 'significant progress' in tackling a militant insurgency in northern Mozambique. Addressing the SADC extraordinary summit in Lilongwe last week, he thanked the Standby Mission in Mozambique for ‘neutralising’ insurgents in Cabo Delgado. Ramaphosa also saluted the SADC Standby Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) for tackling terrorism in the region, says a report on the News24 site. He said six months after SAMIM was deployed, 'internally displaced people are returning to their homes and relief food is being provided to affected households’.‘ Terrorism cannot be permitted to continue to thrive in any part of our region as its presence will reverse the stability and progress SADC has achieved in its four decades of existence,’ he said while addressing the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation in Lilongwe, Malawi.

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Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera has urged SADC states to support the Cabo Delgado Reconstruction Plan. A report on the News24 site notes that he said the plan seeks to empower the youth to avoid potential disgruntlement. He urged member states to support the initiative. Chakwera noted that the plan is an initiative launched by the Mozambique Government to restore social and economic infrastructure wrecked during the incursions by insurgents in the oil- and gas-rich province. ‘This plan, among other things, seeks to provide humanitarian support to the affected population, including the internally displaced persons and uplift their living standards. This plan seeks to empower the people economically as a pre-emptive measure against radicalisation, especially among the youth,’ he added.

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