According to the Ministry of Defence, the Chief of General Staff who was received by the RSF Joint Task Force commander Maj Gen Eugene Nkubito on Sunday 7th May 2023, praised the RSF for their good work. He noted that the current security situation is at a satisfactory level.

Rwanda started the deployment of 1000 troops of the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) and the Rwanda National Police (RNP) to Mozambique on 9th July 2021, to fight terrorist groups, honoring the request of Mozambique. The troops had increased to nearly 2000 by the end of the year 2021.

As he received oaths of new officials including the Minister of Health, Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana and Minister of State in the same ministry, Dr. Ivan Butera towards the end of last year, President Paul Kagame said that Rwanda increased troops deployed to Mozambique in connection with their new mandate.

“We have nearly 2500 troops including soldiers and Police personnel in Mozambique, working with Mozambican forces. Even yesterday, we deployed more troops. We did it because many problems have been solved in collaboration with Mozambicans since our initial deployment,” he said.

The troops have also got a new mandate to pursue terrorists and dislodge them from their hideouts.

The situation in the country had worsened since October 2017 when armed extremists launched an insurgency in the Cabo Delgado Province of Mozambique.

Mozambique Defence Armed Forces battled the extremists but many civilians were killed and displaced by the fighting.

Before Rwandan troops’ intervention, terrorists had killed 3000 civilians while more than 800,000 were displaced. The insecurity had also put to halt all development projects in the area controlled by insurgents.

The joint operations between Rwandan and Mozambican troops yielded big where different regions were seized from rebels.

Rwanda and Mozambique have been enjoying vibrant relations for many years.

Both countries have cooperation agreements in different areas including security, trade and investment among others.