Maputo — Mozambique has legalized creation of local militias under the military to help fight Islamist militants in the northern Cabo Delgado province. The self-defense local militias already help the Mozambican armed forces and military contingents from Rwanda and some Southern African Development Community countries in the fight in oil-rich Cabo Delgado. He added that the decree will allow for better structuring, organization and logistical support for local self-defense militias. Suazi said the decree establishes the local force and the respective statute, as well as defining the concept of the local force, its activation and deactivation, composition, forms of acquisition, and rights and duties. Mozambique has been fighting militants linked to the Islamic State group in Cabo Delgado since 2017.

Source: The North Africa Journal April 07, 2023 13:35 UTC