Bloomberg) — The European Union has agreed to help “strengthen the capacity” of Mozambique’s government in its fight against an escalating Islamist insurgency that’s killed more than 2,000 in a region home to Africa’s biggest foreign investments.
The EU gave “a positive response” to the southeast African nation’s request for assistance, Ambassador Antonio Sanchez-Benedito Gaspar said in an Oct. 9 statement. Mozambique had asked for help with logistics, training and humanitarian aid in September, he said.
Companies including Total SE plan to spend as much as $60 billion on liquefied natural gas projects in Cabo Delgado province, where Islamic State-linked militants have captured major towns and caused more than 310,000 people to flee their homes.
The government has struggled to contain the worsening violence, and has relied on private military companies in the war. Government forces have committed murders and other atrocities, according to groups including Amnesty International, accusations the state has denied.
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