SADC Troops In Mozambique: Tanzanian Cargo Plane (a Yaklov Y8) Landed In Cabo Delgado On Sunday To Unload Vehicles and Other Military Equipment
An unusual amount of traffic has characterised Pemba airport since last Sunday, with the arrival of troops and military equipment in support of the Mozambican Defence and Security Forces (FDS) fighting terrorism in the province of Cabo Delgado.
One of the aircraft was a Tanzanian military freighter, which sources tell ‘Notícias’ made a series of flights between Sunday and Tuesday, disembarking troops and various military equipment (mainly vehicles and weapons).
For strategic reasons, sources are not disclosing the number of men disembarking from the Yaklov Y8 freighter, nor the exact quantity of equipment.
President of Tanzania Samia Suluhu Hassan visited Rwanda on Monday and Tuesday, and the deployment of troops from both countries to Cabo Delgado is believed to have been one of the topics on the agenda of meetings with Paul Kagame, her Rwandan counterpart.
Also to be seen at Pemba airport are helicopters from the air forces of South Africa and Botswana, and also of Rwanda, whose soldiers (numbering 1,000) were the first foreign troops to arrive in Mozambique.
There are indications that Rwandan forces, in collaboration with the Mozambican FDS, have already inflicted heavy casualties on the terrorists, many of whom have fled in disarray into the interior.
President of the Republic Filipe Nyusi said a few days ago that many civilians had been rescued from terrorist captivity, following their escape.