Armed conflict should have ended if terrorists “were not invisible enemies” – Nyusi

Maputo, 08 Sep (AIM) – Filipe Nyusi, former Mozambican President, believes that the armed conflict that has been plaguing some districts of the northern province of Cabo Delgado should have ended if the islamist terrorists “were not invisible enemies.”

Nyusi was speaking on Monday in Maputo’s Heroes Square, on the sidelines of the ceremony marking Victory Day – the 52nd anniversary of the agreement, signed in Lusaka on 7 September 1974 between the liberation movement, Frelimo, and the Portuguese state, which ended the anti-colonial war, and fixed 25 June 1975 as the date for Mozambican independence.

According to Nyusi, the terrorism differs from the national liberation struggle and “the invisibility of the enemy complicates the identification and neutralization of the armed groups.”

“We need greater focus and determination in the fight against terrorism. This conflict should have ended long ago”, he said.

Since 2027, Islamist terrorists have been carrying out extreme violence against Cabo Delgado districts. Data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) points out that the conflict has caused more than 6,600 deaths across over 2,400 violent events since its beginning, with the vast majority attributed to terrorists linked to the Islamic State.

Am/