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The Conflict with Renamo
«August 1984»
Dossier MZ-0020
54. Rumours Circulate of Possible Direct Talks as MNR Delegation Arrives in Pretoria; Machel calls the MNR the "Fourth Calamity"
Above : Maj.-Gen. Tobias Dai, provincial military commander in Manica and deputy provincial Frelimo Party secretary.
Documents captured by the FPLM in Manica revealed that the MNR was suffering from logistical problems such as a shortage of ammunition. While there were several press accounts of clashes in Manica, the Zimbabwean authorities confirmed the presence of their troops in Mozambique, according to a Lisbon newspaper story. Nevertheless, the South African press claimed that the "15,000-strong National Resistance guerrilla army" was strong enough to be threatening to "snatch control" of Mozambique.
A report in the daily Notícias repeated the earlier claim that approximately 3,000 MNR fighters had been captured by or had surrendered to the FPLM since the beginning of the year.
In an echo of Old Testament biblical imagery, President Samora Machel described the rebel movement as Mozambique's "fourth calamity", after drought, floods, and Tropical Depression «Domoína».
Click on the yellow folder image below to download an unsorted zipped archive of documents and press clippings in PDF format concerning the conflict between the Mozambican government and the MNR/Renamo in August 1984.
