Wiriyamu Massacre
The Wiriyamu Massacre or Operation Marosca was a massacre of the civilian population of the village of Wiriyamu in Mozambique by Portuguese soldiers in December 1972. Background. The Portuguese Colonial War broke out in 1961 in response to challenges to Portuguese colonial rule by African independence movements following the success of Congo in obtaining independence from Belgium a year earlier. The fascist Estado Novo regime, determined to maintain its increasingly tenuous hold on its African colonial possessions, immediately mobilised settler militias, Portuguese fascist volunteers, and PIDE/DGS secret policemen in addition to regular army units to achieve this  goal and violently suppress the anti-colonial uprisings. In 1970, FRELIMO 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 to this development, the Portuguese Army initiated in 1971 a series of "cleanup" operations along the Zambezi, from Mucanha to Mucumbura to Inhambinga. These euphemistically named "cleanup" operations involved the extermination of whole villages and depopulating the territory to block the advance of guerillas, who relied on local support from the African populace. By 1972, the Portuguese government  deployed large amounts of Army units and PIDE/DGS corps to the area, with their behaviour and that of the settler population becoming increasingly murderous and developing genocidal proclivities. 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. Referred to as the 'Wiriyamu Massacre', the soldiers killed between 150 (according to the Red Cross) and 300 (according to a much later investigation by the Portuguese newspaper "Expresso" based in testimonies from soldiers) villagers accused of sheltering FRELIMO 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, and two other Spanish missionary priests. Later counter-claims have been made in a report of Archbishop of Dar es Salaam Laurean Rugambwa 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 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.