The Mozambican government will ask parliament to increase compulsory military service from two to five years, the spokesman for the Council of Ministers, Filimão Suaze said on Tuesday.
Suaze said that the change was aimed at adapting to the “political and socio-economic challenges currently facing the military institution.
The extension of the time for compulsory military service will also allow for better use of the investments that the state has made in the Mozambique Armed Defence Forces (FADM), added the spokesman for the Council of Ministers.
For the new deadline to come into force, the Assembly of the Republic will have to make an amendment to the Law on Compulsory Military Service.
Cabo Delgado province has been facing an armed insurgency for five years with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.
The insurgency has led to a military response since July 2021 with support from Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), liberating districts near gas projects, but new waves of attacks have emerged south of the region and in neighbouring Nampula province.
The conflict has left one million people displaced, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and about 4,000 dead, according to the ACLED conflict registration project.
Lusa
