The Wiriyamu Massacre or Operation Marosca was a massacre of the civilian population of the village of Wiriyamu in

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

by Portuguese soldiers in December 1972. In September 2022 Portuguese prime minister

António Costa António Luís Santos da Costa GCIH (; born 17 July 1961) is a Portuguese lawyer and politician serving as the 119th and current prime minister of Portugal since 26 November 2015, presiding over the XXI (2015–2019), XXII (2019–2022) and ...

considered it 'an unforgivable act that dishonours Portugal history'.

Background

The

Portuguese Colonial War The Portuguese Colonial War ( pt, Guerra Colonial Portuguesa), also known in Portugal as the Overseas War () or in the former colonies as the War of Liberation (), and also known as the Angolan, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambican War of Independence, ...

broke out in 1961 in response to challenges to Portuguese colonial rule by African independence movements following the success of Democratic Republic of the Congo obtaining independence from

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

a year earlier. In 1970,

FRELIMO FRELIMO (; from the Portuguese , ) is a democratic socialist political party in Mozambique. It is the dominant party in Mozambique and has won a majority of the seats in the Assembly of the Republic in every election since the country's first ...

guerillas began operating along the Mozambican section of the Zambezi River. The presence of FRELIMO and other anti-colonial revolutionary guerilla organisations sparked intense and widespread panic among settlers. In response, the Portuguese Army initiated in 1971 a series of "cleanup" operations along the Zambezi, from Mucanha to Mucumbura to Inhambinga. These operations involved widespread atrocities and the depopulating of the area to block the advance of guerillas, who relied on support from the local African populace. By 1972, the Portuguese government deployed large amounts of Army units and

PIDE The International and State Defense Police ( pt, Polícia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado; PIDE) was a Portuguese security agency that existed during the '' Estado Novo'' regime of António de Oliveira Salazar. Formally, the main roles of the ...

/DGS corps to the area, with their behaviour and that of the settler militias becoming increasingly harsh.

Massacre

On 16 December 1972, the Portuguese 6th company of Mozambique Commandos killed the inhabitants of the village of Wiriyamu, in the district of

Tete Tete is the capital city of Tete Province in Mozambique. It is located on the Zambezi River, and is the site of two of the four bridges crossing the river in Mozambique. A Swahili trade center before the Portuguese colonial era, Tete continues ...

. Referred to as the 'Wiriyamu Massacre', the soldiers killed between 150 (according to the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

) and 300 (according to a much later investigation by the Portuguese newspaper ''

Expresso Expresso may refer to: * Espresso, a coffee beverage * eXpresso, a hosted workspace for Microsoft Office communities * Expresso (Donkey Kong), a character in the ''Donkey Kong Country'' series * ''Expresso'' (newspaper), based in Lisbon, Portug ...

'' based in testimonies from soldiers) villagers accused of sheltering

guerrillas. The action, named "Operation Marosca", was planned at the instigation of PIDE/DGS agents and guided by agent Chico Kachavi, who was later assassinated while an inquiry into the events was being carried out. The soldiers were told by this agent that "the orders were to kill them all", never mind that only civilians, women and children included, were found. All of the victims were civilians.

Aftermath

The massacre was recounted in July 1973 by the British Catholic priest, Father

Adrian Hastings Adrian Hastings (23 June 1929 – 30 May 2001) was a Roman Catholic priest, historian and author. He wrote a book about the "Wiriyamu Massacre" during the Mozambican War of Independence and became an influential scholar of Christian history in ...

, and two other Spanish missionary priests. Later counter-claims have been made in a report of Archbishop of Dar es Salaam

Laurean Rugambwa Laurean Rugambwa (July 12, 1912 – December 8, 1997) was the first modern native African Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Dar es Salaam from 1968 to 1992, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1960. Biography Laurea ...

that alleged that the killings were carried out by FRELIMO combatants, not Portuguese forces. In addition, others claimed that the alleged massacres by Portuguese military forces were fabricated to tar the reputation of the Portuguese state abroad. Portuguese journalist Felícia Cabrita reconstructed the Wiriyamu massacre in detail by interviewing both survivors and former members of the

Portuguese Army Commandos The Commandos ( pt, Comandos) are a special forces unit in the Portuguese Army. Presently, their parent unit is the Commando Regiment (''Regimento de Comandos''). Their motto is ''Audaces Fortuna Juvat'' (Latin for "Luck Protects the Bold") an ...

, the unit that carried out the massacre. Cabrita's report was published in the Portuguese weekly newspaper ''Expresso'' and later in a book containing several of the journalist's articles.

Background

Massacre

Aftermath

References

Further reading