Mozambican Civil War

=== Outbreak ===

From 1975 to 1979, Rhodesian troops and forces repeatedly entered into Mozambique in order to carry out [[Rhodesian Bush War|operations against supposed ZANLA (Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army) bases]] tolerated on Mozambican territory by the FRELIMO government<ref>Lohman&MacPherson 1983, Chapter 4.</ref> and to destabilise the FRELIMO government directly. These included the bombing of the Beira Port in 1979 and the occupation of the town of Mapai in 1977.<ref>J. A. Kalley, E. Schoeman and L. E. Andoret, "Southern African Political History: A chronology of key political events from Independence to mid-1997" Greenwood, 1999</ref>
 
During one such raid, Rhodesian forces freed FRELIMO ex-official [[André Matsangaissa]] from a re-education camp. He was given military and organisational training and installed as the leader of the fledgling movement known as the ''Mozambique Resistance'', which had been founded by the Rhodesian secret service before the independence of Mozambique in 1975 as an intelligence gathering group on FRELIMO and ZANLA. It was created in Salisbury, Rhodesia under the auspices of [[Ken Flower]], head of the Rhodesian CIO, and Orlando Cristina, a former anti-guerrilla operative for the Portuguese.<ref>Andersson 2016, p.52</ref><ref>Abrahamsson & Nilsson 1995, p.246</ref><ref>Lulat 2008, p.272</ref><ref>Weigert 1995, p.73</ref><ref name="autogenerated1"/>

RENAMO subsequently started operating in the Gorongosa region in order to destabilise the FRELIMO government and its support for the ZANLA movement against Rhodesia. RENAMO  was composed of several anti-communist dissident groups which appeared immediately prior to, and shortly following, Mozambican independence.{{sfnp|Emerson|2014|pp=74–110}} RENAMO's ranks included a number of Mozambican political exiles opposed FRELIMO on principle, including FRELIMO defectors disillusioned with its Marxist–Leninist ideology.<ref name="HRW">{{cite book|last=Watch|first=Human Rights|title=Conspicuous destruction: war, famine and the reform process in Mozambique|year=1992|publisher=Human Rights Watch|location=New York u.a.|isbn=978-1-56432-079-7|pages=86–88|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1PkGpxJaAIIC&q=Teodato+Hunguana&pg=PA174}}</ref>

In 1979, Matsangaissa died in RENAMO's unsuccessful first attack on a major regional centre (Vila Paiva) and RENAMO was quickly ousted from the region. Subsequently, [[Afonso Dhlakama]] became the new leader of RENAMO and with extensive South African support it quickly organised itself into an effective guerilla army.<ref>Igreja 2007 p.128ff</ref>

Other rebel groups, initially  independent of RENAMO, also fought the FRELIMO government. The [[Revolutionary Party of Mozambique]] (PRM), founded by Amos Sumane in 1974 or 1976, waged a low-level insurgency in the northern provinces of [[Zambezia Province|Zambezia]], [[Tete Province|Tete]] and [[Niassa Province|Niassa]] from 1977.<ref>{{cite book |last= Weigert |first= Stephen L. |title= Traditional Religion and Guerrilla Warfare in Modern Africa |page=69 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=0S6DDAAAQBAJ |date= 1996 |publisher= Palgrave Macmillan |location= London |isbn= 978-0-333-63798-2 }}</ref>{{sfnp|Banks|Muller|1998|p=635}} Sumane was captured in 1980 and executed by the Mozambican government in 1981. PRM merged with RENAMO in 1982.{{sfnp|Cabrita|2000|pp=129, 202}} In 1987, Gimo Phiri, who had succeeded Sumane in 1980 and later become a senior figure in RENAMO, created a splinter group, called UNAMO, which briefly fought both RENAMO and FRELIMO, before permanently joining the government side in 1988. Other rebel factions during the conflict included COREMO, UNIPOMO, and FUMO.{{sfnp|Emerson|2014|p=163}}