Rwanda’s Kagame visits troops fighting Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado insurgency

Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Friday began a two-day visit to northern Mozambique, where he has sent close to 1,000 troops to help local soldiers fight jihadist militants.

Rwanda in July was the first of several African countries to provide reinforcements to Mozambique’s army, overwhelmed by an insurgency in its gas-rich Cabo Delgado province linked to the Islamic State.

Kagame landed in the provincial capital Pemba on Friday morning and was received by Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi, the Rwanda Broadcasting Agency tweeted.

The two leaders met and addressed Rwandan troops deployed to the province.

Foreign forces have helped Mozambique regain ground since militants launched a coordinated assault on the port town of Palma in March, offsetting multi-billion-dollar gas projects and raising international concern.

Alongside Rwanda, members of the 16-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) bloc have also been despatching troops including almost 1,500 pledged by Mozambique’s neighbor and regional powerhouse South Africa.