The three-month mission for South Africa's force is part of a deal agreed last month by the southern African regional body Sadc.

Several hundred soldiers recently arrived from Botswana.

Rwanda has also sent troops and they are reported to have helped the Mozambican army retake a base from the Islamist militants earlier this week.

The conflict, which began in 2017, has left hundreds of thousands of Mozambicans displaced and has caused the shut- down of a multi- billion dollar gas project.
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