This entreaty was not obeyed, and on 29 March 1947 militant nationalists launched a two-year insurrection against colonial rule, known as the Malagasy Uprising. On 6 May 1947, in Moramanga, soldiers machine-gunned MDRM officials detained in wagons, killing between 124 and 160 mostly unarmed MDRM activists. An estimated 1,900 Malagasy PADESM supporters were killed by their pro-MDRM nationalist countrymen during the conflict.