Rwandan and Mozambican troops have been jointly fighting insurgents in Cabo Delgado Province located in the north of Mozambique for one month.
Since the deployment of 1000 joint troops of the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) and Rwanda National Police (RNP) on 9th July 2021, some of rebels’ major strongholds have been seized and handed over to Mozambican forces.
Speaking to the media after capturing Mocimboa da Praia port town that was previously a major stronghold for rebels, Maj Gen Chume attributed the victory to great collaboration with Rwanda soldiers.
“We have been working together with Rwandan troops almost a month. In the past two days, this place was a major stronghold for rebels. As you have seen today, we are here having a breath freely because it is liberated,” he said.
Maj Gen Chume has said that the progress attained in one month after launching offensive attacks is self-evident, hailed exhibited professionalism and courage of the joint forces from Rwanda and Mozambique during the fight.
“We can see the progress in one month. We started from Afungi working together, the same we did from Mueda. Now, we can say that Rwanda and Mozambique have brave soldiers because they have been fighting together. Our actions are self-evident. As you can see, we are free today,” he stated.
Despite captured strongholds, Maj Gen Chume said that the fight is ongoing because there are more regions to be liberated.
“We have Mocimboa da Praia liberated from insurgents but it is the first stage. The next step is to move forward to conduct offensives to their main strongholds to defeat them so that Cabo Delgado can be freed from terrorists. What I can say is that we are doing a good job together. Rwandan and Mozambican troops have good relations. We have been working together. That is why we are here to show Mozambique and Rwanda that we can achieve great things if we are united,” he noted.
Other main strongholds for rebels include Mbau, Siri One and Siri Two.
Maj Gen Chume explained that the time to end the war is not specific because it requires complex work and intelligence.
The joint operations between Rwandan and Mozambican troops have started yielding where different regions including Palma, Awasse, Mocímboa Da Praia, Quionga, Tete, Zambia, Maputo, Nhica Do Rovuma, Quelimane, Chinda and Mumu have been seized from rebels.
[{{Related story: Rwandan, Mozambican troops seize Mocímboa da Praia}}->https://en.igihe.com/news/article/rwandan-mozambican-troops-seize-mocimboa-da-praia]
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