• Rwanda says it will withdraw Mozambique troops without sustained funding

• Kigali says mission costs far exceed current EU support

• Rwandan forces deployed since 2021 against Cabo Delgado insurgency

Rwanda said on Saturday it would withdraw its troops fighting Islamist insurgents in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province if international donors fail to provide sufficient funding for the counterterrorism mission.

It's not that "Rwanda could withdraw", it's that "Rwanda WILL withdraw" its troops from Mozambique, if sustainable funding is not secured for its counter-terrorism operations in Cabo Delgado. We didn't pay hundreds of millions of dollars and our RDF soldiers didn't pay the… https://t.co/CyBQ1edoCX

— Olivier J.P. Nduhungirehe (@onduhungirehe) March 14, 2026

“It's not that ‘Rwanda could withdraw’, it's that ‘Rwanda WILL withdraw’ its troops from Mozambique, if sustainable funding is not secured for its counter-terrorism operations in Cabo Delgado,” Foreign Affairs Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe wrote on X.

He said Rwanda had spent hundreds of millions of dollars and lost soldiers while helping stabilize the region, allowing displaced people to return home, children to go back to school, businesses to reopen and major liquefied natural gas (LNG) investments to resume.

Nduhungirehe said it was unacceptable for Rwandan troops to be “being constantly questioned, vilified, criticised, blamed or sanctioned by the very countries that greatly benefit from our intervention in Mozambique.”

Government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo said on X that the sustainability of Rwanda’s deployment depended on “adequate and predictable funding.”

She said the European Peace Facility had so far disbursed about 20 million euros ($23 million) to support the mission, while Rwanda’s costs were “at least ten times higher,” not including the lives lost by soldiers.

The comments followed a Bloomberg report on Thursday that European Union funding for Rwandan troops in Cabo Delgado was set to expire in May with no plans for renewal.

They also came after the United States imposed sanctions roughly ten days earlier on several senior Rwandan military officers over their alleged support for the M23 rebel group in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

In March 2025, the EU also sanctioned Rwandan military commanders it accused of backing M23. The sanctions include asset freezes and travel bans.

Kigali denies supporting M23, accusations made in recent years by the Congolese government, United Nations experts and Western powers.

Rwandan forces report gains

Mozambique has faced an Islamist insurgency in Cabo Delgado since late 2017 led by the jihadist group Ahlu Sunna Wal Jamaa.

The conflict has killed several thousand people and disrupted gas developments, including a $20 billion LNG project led by France’s TotalEnergies. Other companies, including ENI and ExxonMobil, are also developing LNG projects in the province.

The sustainability of Rwanda's bilateral counter-terrorism deployment in Mozambique, if our forces are actually needed, depends on adequate, predictable funding.

This is what the European Peace Facility partly funds, and so far around €20m has been disbursed. The full cost to… https://t.co/FuKDp0fpIW

— Yolande Makolo ?? (@YolandeMakolo) March 13, 2026

At Maputo’s request, Rwanda deployed about 1,000 troops in July 2021 to support Mozambican forces. The deployment has since expanded to several thousand soldiers. Rwandan forces say they have achieved several gains, including retaking the port town of Mocimboa da Praia from Islamist fighters.

The town, targeted in Mozambique’s first jihadist attack in October 2017, had been considered a key rebel stronghold.

While many observers credit Rwandan troops with helping improve security in the region, Nduhungirehe warned on X that Western sanctions could threaten the viability of natural gas production in Cabo Delgado.

“Rwandan soldiers have played a crucial role in containing the Islamist insurgency,” he wrote.

“The stakes are even higher as the sanctions directly affect the viability of an emerging African natural gas export hub, whose strategic importance has increased following the war with Iran and which is essential to transforming the economy of one of the world’s poorest countries.”

Walid Kéfi