Moscow offers security aid to Mozambique to counter northern insurgency

Government forces in Mozambique have struggled for years to contain a violent Islamist insurgency that has plagued the northern provinces, displacing thousands and stalling resource extraction projects. Lavrov’s offer to provide targeted support follows a pattern of increasing Russian involvement in regional security affairs.

Russia has steadily bolstered its influence in Africa through the Africa Corps, a paramilitary structure that replaced the Wagner Group. With operations already established in several neighboring states, this latest overture suggests a formal transition toward direct state-to-state security cooperation aimed at curbing militant activity in the Cabo Delgado region.