A decision to send troops to northern Mozambique was taken only two years ago.
It now feels like a distant past.
In fact the whole exercise now seems like a wasted effort.
All the hysteria that characterized the deployment of troops to that region has been replaced by astonishing silence.
Families of those who died fighting there must be quietly asking themselves if it was all in vain.
For their part the terrorists must be having the biggest laugh.
For them everything seems to have worked according to their script.
A military operation by southern African countries to rid northern Mozambique of terrorism is now coming to a close.
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