The president of Botswana, Mokgweetsi Masisi, on Monday deployed troops to Mozambique as part of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Standby Force.

Masisi saw off the troops at the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport north of Gaborone on Monday morning as Commander-in-Chief of the Botswana Armed Forces and Current Chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence & Security.

He said:

A total of 296 BDF soldiers will be deployed in Mozambique, and 70 of them departed yesterday.

Mozambique has for years been grappling with Islamic insurgents who recently killed hundreds of people in Palma in the Northern Cabo Delgado Province

Botswana is sending troops following Rwanda’s deployment of a 1 000-person contingent of the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) and the Rwanda National Police (RNP) to help Mozambique fight off the terrorists.

-Xinhua