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Portugal Mozambique
The insurgency in Mozambique began in the extreme
northern
areas of the province in 1964 and was led by guerrilla
forces of
the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frente de
Libertação
de Moçambique--FRELIMO). FRELIMO was well armed by various
communist countries, and its fighters were trained by the
Chinese. At the time of the outbreak of hostilities,
Portugal had
about 16,000 troops in the province, all deployed in the
north
where the FRELIMO attacks were concentrated. For several
years,
Portuguese forces were able to prevent the guerrillas from
moving
southward. They could not end the warfare, however,
because the
guerrillas had a sanctuary to which they could retreat and
a
constant source of arms. Eventually the guerrillas were
able to
skirt the Portuguese strength in the north and mount
incursions
into the relatively unprotected center.
Of the 60,000 government troops ultimately involved in
Mozambique, 35,000 were black Africans, 10,000 were white
Africans, and the remaining 15,000 were from Portugal.
This
relatively large force faced approximately 8,000
insurgents.
Despite this numerical superiority, the Portuguese
government was
unable to counter the guerrillas' tactics, which included
ambushes, selective terrorism, and severing road and rail
links.
By September 1975, when the former province became
independent as
the People's Republic of Mozambique, Portuguese losses
were
officially reported as 1,606 killed in action and 724
noncombat
deaths.
Data as of January 1993
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