According to the Minister of State and Head of the President's Security House, Francisco Pereira Furtado, this participation includes the component of logistical efforts and the contribution of the Republic of Angola in the maintenance of this force valued at a total of 1,174,307 dollars.
The minister was speaking Tuesday in parliament, during the presentation of the draft resolution that authorizes the President, as Commander in Chief of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA), to send an Angolan component of the Standby Force of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to the Republic of Mozambique.
The law, considered as a matter of urgency during the eighth extraordinary plenary meeting of the current legislative session of the National Assembly, was approved unanimously with 182 votes in favor, none against and no abstentions.
The deputies expressed on Tuesday "solidarity" with Mozambique, "which is struggling to maintain peace" due to armed conflicts and welcomed the President's initiative to send a military contingent to the SADC Standby Forces.
The Angolan component of the SADC Standby Forces to Mozambique will have 20 military personnel, namely 2 officers in the Regional Coordination Mechanism, 8 officers in the Force Command and one aircraft of the type IL-76 of Strategic Projection with the respective crew with 10 military personnel.
Support the Republic of Mozambique to combat acts of violent terrorism by neutralizing the threat and restoring security aimed at the safe environment, in the field of peacebuilding and maintaining security through the implementation of courses of action are some of the objectives of the Angolan mission.
Speaking to journalists at the end of the approval of the resolution, Francisco Pereira Furtado, assured that the Angolan forces "will not be directly engaged in combative actions, but to support the deployment of forces that will fulfill this mission of stability in the province of Cabo Delgado.
"Officially, this is the first mission of the FAA in the area of peace enforcement," said the governor, announcing that the Angolan contingent leaves on the 29th of this month for Mozambique.
Francisco Pereira Furtado recalled that Angola has previously participated in humanitarian missions, between 2016 and 2019, such as supporting the disasters in the city of Beira and the Lesotho mission, noting that the country will participate in this new mission "with pride."
"The Angolan State is in a position to effectively participate in support and peacekeeping missions and it is in this aspect that we have to work and we have to feel proud because we will participate in this mission," he stressed.
For this first 90-day phase, noted the Minister of State, "our participation is only in the chapter of integration in the mission's command post and the projection of forces from other countries that have difficulties and means to do so.
"For this reason we have made available a total of 20 officers including the crew, we will not be directly engaged in combat actions, but if the situation evolves and there is a need for this engagement logically the President of the Republic will request the National Assembly to send an operational contingent," he concluded.
The Angolan mission also proposes to support Mozambique to "restore law and order in the affected areas in Cabo Delgado province" and "provide support in air and sea means in order to strengthen the operational capabilities of the armed forces and defense" of that country.
A contingent of 1,000 Rwandan military and police officers are already in Cabo Delgado to fight the armed groups, under a bilateral agreement between the Mozambican government and the Kigali authorities.
Armed groups have been terrorizing Cabo Delgado province since 2017, with some attacks claimed by the Islamic State group.
