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The Conflict with Renamo, 1976-1992
«July 1982»
Dossier MZ-0020
29. Destruction of UN
Agricultural Project by MNR
Above: A captured MNR fighter, Tomas Samson, aged 23, a peasant from Mungari in Manica Province. An interview about his experiences was published on 28 July.
The MNR attacked a United Nations centre researching trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) in Inhambane, destroying laboratories and a school. They also kidnapped an Italian missionary, Giuseppe Allessandria, from Maimalane (also in Inhambane). In a lengthy analysis, the London-based Africa Confidential newsletter reported that the MNR was active in seven of Mozambique's ten provinces, and much of the national road system was "subject to attack". Nevertheless, the government was "in no danger" and there were no liberated zones per se. Dismissing the idea that the rebels were merely bandidos armados, the article identified three groups within it: former PIDE members and GE commandos, FRELIMO veterans who ran afoul of the movement's puritanical morality, and people with political ambitions who tried and failed to rise within Frelimo Party structures.
The newspaper Notícias published a series of articles under the rubric «Morte aos Bandidos Que Nos Querem Matar», one of which dealt with the issue of girls and young women abducted to become the "wives" of MNR leaders.
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 July 1982.
