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The Conflict with Renamo, 1976-1992
«1978»
Dossier MZ-0020
4. The MNR Claims 'Vast' Territories;
and Maputo's Scala Café is Bombed
The «Resistance» claimed in October (see the article by José Ramalho below) that it controlled 'vast areas of central Mozambique', and issued communiqués claiming that it had been in action in Milange in the north and as far south as the Save river. Voz da África Livre claimed that MiG military aircraft were being assembled in the port city of Nacala by Soviet technicians.
Earlier, at 20h15 in the evening on 26 July, a bomb was exploded in the Scala café in downtown Maputo, injuring fifty people, and other bomb attacks took place in Beira and in Chimoio. Mozambican sources attributed these sabotage attacks to the Rhodesian secret services in response to successful ZANU advances.
MHN Resources
◊ 1 January
Serviço Nacional de Segurança Popular (SNASP). Apelo a todos os cidadãos. Tempo no.378. 1 January 1978, page 9-10. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 350 kb.
◊ February
Mozambique: Machel's war against sabotage. Africa [London], February 1978, pages 16-17. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 172 kb.
◊ 22 February
Return of black Rhodesians from Mozambique. Salisbury radio on 17 February, cited in Summary of World Broadcasts, 22 February 1978. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 110 kb.
◊ 31 March
Mozambique: the body politic. Africa Confidential vol.19 no.7, 31 March 1978, pages 4-5. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 328 kb. Concludes that Arouca's FUMO, the 'Resistance' and the Partido Revolucionário de Moçambique in Tete and Niassa do not 'constitute a serious threat'.
◊ 20 April
Frelimo again attacks Zona Tea Estates. Rhodesia Herald, 20 April 1978. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 116 kb.
◊ 22 April
Families tell of ‘ordeal’ in Maputo. Rhodesia Herald, 22 April 1978. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 125 kb.
◊ 29 June
Reported assembly of MiG aircraft in Mozambique. Voz da África Livre reported in the Summary of World Broadcasts, 29 June 1978. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 104 kb.
◊ 30 July
Explosão na capital: 50 feridos numa acção inimiga de sabotagem e terror. Tempo, no.408, 30 July 1978, pages 20-21. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 747 kb.
◊ 4 August
Mocambique [sic]: vigilante groups set up after bomb blast. To the Point vol.7 no.31, 4 August 1978, page 40. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 303 kb.
◊ 27 October
José Ramalho. Mozambique: anti-Machel movement has some success. To the Point vol.7 no.43, 27 October 1978, page 51. Includes a list of claimed engagements and actions of the MNR against government forces. This article also includes one of the earliest appearances of the MNR logo with the five downward-pointing arrows. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 514 kb.
◊ December
Explosion in Beira. AIM News Bulletin, date unknown. Click here to view or download a PDF, size 75 kb.
Consolidated Downloadable Zipped Files
Click on the yellow folder image below to download an unsorted zipped archive of documents and press clippings in PDF format concerning the armed conflict between Renamo/MNR and the Mozambican government in 1978. Note: it is possible that materials have been added to this archive that are not listed above.
