Mozambique parliament seeks to extend compulsory military service

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Recruits receiving military training in the Gorongosa's Mountains, Mozambique on November 8, 2012. PHOTO | AFP

Mozambique's parliament on Thursday passed draft legislation to up the minimum period of compulsory military service from two to five years, a move the government said aimed to increase professionalism in the armed forces.

The country has been fighting a prolonged Islamist insurgency that has cast doubt over the development of large gas deposits discovered in its restive north.