The Southern African Development Community Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) is an active regional peacekeeping mission operated by the

Southern African Development Community The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. Goals The SADC's goal is to further regional socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and se ...

in Northern Mozambique's

Cabo Delgado Province Cabo Delgado is the northernmost province of Mozambique. It has an area of and a population of 2,320,261 (2017). It borders the Mtwara Region in the neighbouring country of Tanzania, and the provinces of Nampula and Niassa. The Province is ri ...

Background

Authorisation

SAMIM was deployed on 15 July 2021 following its approval by the Extraordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government held in

Maputo Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...

, Republic of Mozambique on 23 June 2021. On 2 January 2022, at a summit of SADC Summit of Heads of State

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

's capital

Lilongwe Lilongwe (, ,) is the capital and largest city of Malawi. It has a population of 989,318 as of the 2018 Census, up from a population of 674,448 in 2008. In 2020, that figure was 1,122,000. The city is located in the central region of Malawi, i ...

, agreement was given to extend the troop deployment in Mozambique to help the government fight an

Islamic State The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...

-linked insurgency.

Leadership and command

Head of Mission

Force Commanders

Deputy Force Commanders

Force organization

Force structure

The envisioned deployment was around an infantry brigade sized force with maritime and air elements attached.
Ground forces * 1x

Brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...

Headquarters * 3x Light infantry

Battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

s. * 2x

Special Forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

Squadrons. * 1x Engineer Squadron. * 1x Signal Squadron. Logistics * 1x Level II field hospital. * 1x Field recovery unit * 1x Field workshop unit * 1x Field mobile stores unit Maritime * 2x

Patrol Boat A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval ship, naval vessel generally designed for Coastal defence and fortification, coastal defence, Border control, border security, or law ...

s * 1x

Submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

* 1x Maritime Patrol Aircraft Air * 2x

UAV An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Drone ...

's * 6x Helicopters * 4x Transport Aircraft

Contingents

The following contingents have been deployed so far: Botswanatroopsboardplane

Angola contingent

Angolan Armed Forces The Angolan Armed Forces () or FAA is the military of Angola. The FAA consist of the Angolan Army (), the Angolan Navy () and the National Air Force of Angola (). Reported total manpower in 2021 was about 107,000. The FAA is headed by the C ...

deployed 20 personnel and an Ilyushin Il-76 transport aircraft to the mission.

South Africa contingent

South African National Defence Force The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) comprises the armed forces of South Africa. The Chief of the SANDF is appointed by the President of South Africa from one of the armed services. They are in turn accountable to the Minister of ...

has an approved force strength of 1495 personnel. Deployed elements include personnel and assets from the

South African Air Force The South African Air Force (SAAF) is the air warfare branch of South African National Defence Force, with its headquarters in Pretoria. The South African Air Force was established on 1 February 1920. The Air Force saw service in World War II a ...

South African Navy The South African Navy (SA Navy) is the naval warfare branch of the South African National Defence Force. The Navy is primarily engaged in maintaining a conventional military deterrent, participating in counter-piracy operations, fishery prote ...

South African Army The South African Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of South Africa, a part of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), along with the South African Air Force, South African Navy and South African Military Health Servi ...

South African Military Health Service The South African Military Health Service is the branch of the South African National Defence Force responsible for medical facilities and the training and deployment of all medical personnel within the force. Though unusual, as most national mili ...

& South African Special Forces

Botswana contingent

Botswana Defence Force The Botswana Defence Force (BDF, ) is the military of Botswana. The main component of the BDF is the Botswana Ground Force; there is also an air wing and a riverine patrol contingent attached to the ground forces, with 10 Panther airboats and 2 ...

Deployed 296 personnel to the mission in July 2021.

Lesotho contingent

Lesotho Defence Force The Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) is the military of the Southern African Lesotho, Kingdom of Lesotho, which consists of about 2,000 personnel and is tasked with maintaining internal security, territorial integrity, and defending the constitution o ...

has deployed 125 personnel to the mission. The contingent was airlifted by an Angolan Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 transport to the mission.

Tanzania contingent

Tanzania People's Defence Force The Tanzania People’s Defence Force (TPDF) () is the military force of the United Republic of Tanzania. It was established in September 1964, following a mutiny by the former colonial military force, the Tanganyika Rifles. From its inception, ...

was reported to be deploying 274 troops to the mission.

Namibia Contingent

Namibian Defence Force and Namibian Police Force deployed a contingent of 8 Staff Officers in March 2022.

Deployment

An advance element of the South African Special Forces deployed to Pemba via

C-130 Aircraft, the main body and equipment were deployed by road. Botswana Defence Force Commandos also deployed via Botswana Defence Force C-130 to Pemba, the main body of equipment deployed by road to Northern Mozambique.

personnel and equipment were airlifted to Northern Mozambique by Angolan transport aircraft.

Operations

The SADC states also began with their offensive in August 2021, with

SAMIM Samim (full name Samim Winiger) is a Swiss producer of electronic dance music. Biography Winiger is of Iranian descent. On 24 August rebels reportedly ambushed

SAMIM Samim (full name Samim Winiger) is a Swiss producer of electronic dance music. Biography Winiger is of Iranian descent. On 28 August,

SAMIM Samim (full name Samim Winiger) is a Swiss producer of electronic dance music. Biography Winiger is of Iranian descent. In September 2021 SAMIM troops also began to deploy in

Niassa Province Niassa is a province of Mozambique with an area of 129,056 km2 and a population of 1,810,794 (2017). It is the most sparsely populated province in the country. Lichinga is the capital of the province. There are a minimum estimated 450,00 ...

; groups of insurgents were suspected of having retreated or otherwise relocated to Niassa. Other bands of rebels were moving further south, away from the combat zone of the Messalo River. These groups relocated to Quissanga and Macomia District, where the rebels began a series of attacks on local villages, massacring dozens of civilians. SAMIM claimed to have captured the "Sheikh Ibrahim base" in northern Macomia District from rebels on 14 September. 24 September a report from the SADC Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) reported that a Tanzanian soldier and 17 insurgents were killed in an attack on an insurgent base near Chitama, in southeastern Nangade district. On 19 December Mozambique's defence minister claimed Mozambican and SAMIM soldiers killed ten insurgents after storming an ISIS camp in Cabo Delgado. On 20 December 2021 A patrol consisting of South African Special Forces and Mozambican ground troops were ambushed by ISIS east of Chai village. A number of Mozambican soldiers as well as a single South African special forces operator were killed in the attack. Several other soldiers were injured. This marked the first death of a South African special forces operator in combat since the

South African Border War The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and Angol ...

. On 5 February 2022 A patrol of Mozambican, Rwandan and SAMIM soldiers was ambushed near Nova Zambezia, Macomia district, resulting in a Mozambican soldier KIA and five insurgent attackers eliminated. On 9 February 2022 a Botswana Defence Force soldier died in Mueda, Cabo Delgado Province Mozambique due to unnamed cause. In February the Zambia Air Force announced that it had deployed as single C-27 cargo plane to Pemba, Mozambique. South Africa was reported to be deploying an entire battle group as part of its rotation, replacing largely its Special Forces Contingent

Casualties

*3 August 2021:

Corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

Jacob Ramagonono of the

passed on due to motor vehicle accident. * 25 September 2021: an unnamed

soldier was Killed in Action south of Chitama, Nangade district. *28 November 2021:

Private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

Moalosi Jacob Khoaele of the

passed on due to illness. *20 December 2021:

Tebogo Edwin Radebe of the

was Killed in Action. * 9 February 2022: Sergeant Gosekwang Ngaka of the

Special Forces died in Mueda, Cabo Delgado Province Mozambique due to unnamed cause.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) Insurgency in Cabo Delgado Southern African Development Community Military operations involving Tanzania Military operations involving South Africa Military history of Botswana Military history of Lesotho Military history of Angola Military history of Namibia 2021 establishments in Mozambique