The Southern African Development Community (SADC) reiterated its commitment to stand in solidarity with Mozambique whose northern region has been plagued by a surge in Islamist militant activity this year.
The comments were made during the opening of the Extraordinary Ministerial Meeting of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation by its chairperson, Lemogang Kwape.
Kwape said the SADC has a duty to protect innocent civilians in addition to ensuring regional peace and stability.
Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province has experienced an escalation in violence since March, the worst such violence in the country since the insurgency began in 2017.
Dozens of people were killed, and several others were injured following an attack on March 24 by suspected Islamist militants on the key town of Palma, which is close to a major gas development project.
The United Nations also expressed its concern about mounting reports of human rights abuses against civilians in the town including allegations of beheadings and the use of child soldiers during attacks by non-state armed groups in the town.
Kwape called on the bloc to urgently respond to the crisis to avert it spreading to the rest of the country and the greater southern Africa region.
“The rise in these dreadful attacks raises concern that they are most likely to spread quickly to other provinces in Mozambique and to the entire Region. Therefore, the sooner we respond collectively, the less likely that these barbaric acts of terrorism will continue to destabilise our Region,” Kwape said.
“We commend and recognise the important role played by our cooperating partners in assisting to find a long-lasting solution to this problem.”
Kwape pointed out that the SADC could not afford to have, under its watch, continued “heinous atrocities” being perpetrated while it idly stood by.
“As we deliberate on the Report and course of action, we should also take into consideration that our way forward, as the Region, should be guided by the SADC Mutual Defence Pact, which entered into force in August 2008. As we are aware, the Pact provides for collective self-defence and collective action. In particular, Article 6 of the Pact states that ‘an armed attack against a state party shall be considered a threat to regional peace and security and such an attack shall be met with immediate action’.”
The meeting in the Mozambican capital Maputo had been convened to consider a report by a technical team which was deployed to Mozambique following a decision by the Extraordinary SADC Double Troika Summit.
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