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The Conflict with Renamo, 1976-1992
«October 1987»
Dossier MZ-0020
92. Massacre at Taninga, 211 People Killed; New US Ambassador Melissa Wells Tours Zambézia
Above:.A burnt-out bus after the Taninga attack, with a destroyed light vehicle next to it. Several badly burned bodies of passengers were found in the bus.
In the latest of a series of atrocities, Renamo rebels ambushed a convoy on the main highway near Taninga, 80 km. north of Maputo, burning 18 vehicles, including a bus, and in some cases with passengers trapped inside. Altogether, 211 people died.
A report in the Maputo newspaper Notícias on 13 October claimed that Renamo fighters had bayoneted babies to death and then eaten them. The report also claimed that the rebels raided cemeteries in order to remove clothing and other possessions from the graves, leaving the corpses of the deceased to be eaten by hyenas.
The new United States ambassador to Mozambique, whose confirmation was held up for a prolonged period by conservatives in the US Senate, travelled to Zambézia on a fact-finding mission within a few days of presenting her credentials. Another Western diplomat, the Swede Annie Marie Sundbom, commented at the end of a short visit that "I've never seen such brutality in my life".
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 October 1987.
