Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi recently said he agreed with his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame to boost the fight against terrorism in the southern African country, local media report.

This was after Nyusi and Kagame met on February 17 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on the sidelines of the just concluded 36th Ordinary session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union.

ALSO READ: Nyusi: Kagame understood Mozambicans’ suffering, gave his best people to help Mozambique

President Kagame’s office said the two leaders discussed ongoing areas of bilateral cooperation including the partnership to restore security in Mozambique’s northernmost Province of Cabo Delgado.

ALSO READ: EU military chief visits Rwanda security forces in Mozambique

Speaking to journalists on Saturday, February 18, after his return from Addis Ababa, Nyusi said Rwandan and Mozambican security forces would continue to work together in the anti-terrorism operations.

"One of the points we have been discussing is the sustainability of the Mozambican armed forces and police,” Nyusi was quoted by Mozambican News Agency as saying.

He said the approach seeks to ensure that when the Rwandan troops eventually leave, the Mozambican armed forces and police will respond to threats in the defence and security sector.

At Maputo’s request, Kigali deployed troops in July 2021 to fight Islamist terrorists, who had for several years destabilised Cabo Delgado, a region located on the coast of the Indian Ocean. Barely two weeks after landing, Rwandan and Mozambican forces were circling major bases of the terrorists, capturing them.

On August 8, 2021, the joint forces captured Mocimboa da Praia, a key port city that was the headquarters of the terrorists for nearly five years. The capture of the port dealt a heavy blow to the terrorists who had driven around 826,000 people from their homes and killed more than 2,000 others, in the Province.

ALSO READ: Cabo Delgado: What Rwandan and Mozambican forces are doing after securing two districts

Kagame had pledged to continue supporting Mozambique "and we affirmed that we are going to step up the fight against terrorism", declared Nyusi.

"We shall step up the fight because terrorism is the main problem."

As of November 2022, more than 2,500 Rwandan military and police officers were based in Cabo Delgado.

Until the Rwandan deployment, Islamic State-linked terrorists wreaked havoc in the coastal region rich in natural gas, killing more than 4,000 civilians and displacing tens of thousands of residents since 2017.

ALSO READ: Mozambique starts shipping gas to Europe

Rwandan and Mozambican troops purged terrorists from Palma and Mocimboa da Praia Districts and are now engaged in a large-scale stabilization effort there.

By September 2022, more than 130,000 Cabo Delgado residents had returned to their villages in areas where Rwandan and host nation forces operate together.