Mozambique: 50th anniversary of the Wiriyamu massacre

Inscription recalling the Wiriyamu massacre in Mozambique

On December 16, 1972, a village in northern Mozambique was the target of Operation Morosca, initiated by Portuguese soldiers, following the death of several of them in the region in the midst of a colonial war. About 500 residents of Wiriyamu were murdered by Portuguese soldiers.

On the eve of the 50th anniversary of this massacre, only 4 survivors can tell the story of this drama in the first person.

Vinte Gandar still remembers the loss of friends and neighbors. However, the population remained silent when asked if they supported the "turras" , the name given to the fighters of the Mozambican Liberation Front, FRELIMO , currently in power.

“People always kept silent and said 'no, we don't know', but then they started killing. is not produced", explains this survivor.

Survivors recognize that their courage was essential to sustaining the independence movement.

Doquiria Gucinho still bears the scars of that dark day.

“They put us in one place, the men lined up, whoever tried to escape was killed, while we women were sitting. Then they threw a grenade at the place where we were sitting. My mother-in-law fell, hit in the chest, I was injured in the leg and fell bathed in blood. It was only in the evening that I realized that I was not death", explains this Mozambican.

It took nearly five decades for Portugal to recognize the Wiriyamu massacre.

This year, António Costa apologized to Mozambique for the barbarism committed during the colonial war, an act which, according to the Portuguese Prime Minister, is "inexcusable" and "dishonours the memory" of the country.