MAPUTO, MOZAMBIQUE — U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Greenfield says greater efforts are needed in Mozambique to push back insurgents who are spreading south from the northern province of Cabo Delgado.

Greenfield was in Mozambique on Friday as she makes a three-nation tour of Africa. Addressing a media briefing at the end of her two-day visit, Greenfield said the United States is willing to work with Mozambique in the United Nations Security Council.

Early this month, Mozambique took its one-year non-permanent seat on the Security Council.

It came at a time when the armed insurgency in Cabo Delgado province, in the north of the country, remains the main security challenge, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.

“We have to redouble our efforts to push back on terrorist actions,” she said. “The activities are terrorizing ordinary citizens such as the citizens of Cabo Delgado, and we are working closely with the government to address those issues.”

Greenfield, who began her African tour in Ghana on Wednesday, travels on to Kenya from Mozambique.

The insurgent group in Mozambique calls itself Ansar Al Sunna, or Followers of Tradition, but is known throughout Mozambique as al-Shabab. It has no known connection to the group of the same name in Somalia.

It has been occupying several districts in the Cabo Delgado province since 2017.

To date, almost 5,000 people have been killed in the attacks and almost 1 million people displaced, according to humanitarian organizations.

Source: Voice of America