headline: South Africa sends troops to evacuate nationals in Mozambique
President Cyril Ramaphosa is in an urgent meeting with his Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapsia-Nqakula today following his announcement that he’s sent troops to Mozambique to evacuate South Africans trapped there by ISIS-affiliated jihadis fighting government forces.
At least on South African died in the Islamist attack on the town of Palma in the north of Mozambique earlier this week.
The palm-fringed fishing town was regarded as a safe zone in the violence plagued Cabo Delgado Province which has one of the largest liquified natural gas projects on the planet.
subhead Total staff withdrawn
The French energy company Total, which has a primary involvement in the development, has withdrawn its staff from Palma.
Ramaphosa spoke about detaching the troops while attending a wreath-laying ceremony for the late Winnie Madikizela Mandela.
He did not specify how many South African soldiers had been sent into Mozambique, nor did he say how many South Africans were still in Cabo Delgado.
The terror campaign which began in 2017 with machete-wielding fighters claiming they had been marginalized in the search for gas riches, has become a sophisticated, foreign-financed operation that has seen more than 1500 local villagers killed and more than half a million displaced.
Seven people, including the South African Adrian New were killed in the latest jihadi attack.
subhead Trapped in hotel
At least 180 people who sought shelter in the Amarula Hotel in Palma are believed to be trapped there.
Forty three South Africans who were missing after the attack have been accounted for.
Hundreds have been taken by boat from Palma to the provincial capital of Pemba .
It is not possible to ascertain the condition of those trapped because the terrorists have cut communication lines to Palma. The last telephone contact there was on Wednesday.
The United States has sent a detachment of special forces to Mozambique to provide anti-insurgency training to government forces.
Portugal has made a similar offer to its former colony as has the European Union.
subhead Multilateral military assistance
Mozambique which has shown itself to be incapable of containing the insurrection initially asked neighboring ,South Africa for military assistance. Ramaphosa declined saying the country’s national defence force it was not able to acting unilaterally in conflict of this magnitude.
His hand has been forced by his nationals, mostly involved in the gas project, becoming imperiled.
There is no indication how long the South African troops will remain in Mozambique
Both the African Union and the regional Southern African Development Community (SADC) have discussed providing multilateral military assistance to Mozambique. However, they do not have the financial means to do this without help from the United Nations or Western powers.