 On December 16 , 1972 , the Portuguese 6th company of Commandos in Mozambique killed the inhabitants of the village of Wiriyamu , in the district of Tete . <unk> to as the ' Wiriyamu Massacre ' , the soldiers killed between 150 ( according to the Red Cross ) and 300 ( according to a much later investigation by the Portuguese newspaper <unk> based in testimonies from soldiers ) villagers accused of sheltering FRELIMO guerrillas . The action , " Operation <unk> " , was planned at the instigation of PIDE / <unk> agents and guided by agent <unk> <unk> , who was later assassinated while an inquiry into the events was being carried out . The soldiers were told by this agent that " the orders were to kill them all " , never mind that only civilians , women and children included , were found . All of the victims were civilians . The massacre was recounted in July 1973 by the British Catholic priest , Father Adrian Hastings , and two other Spanish missionary priests . Later counter @-@ claims have been made in a report of Archbishop of Dar es Salaam <unk> <unk> that alleged that the killings were carried out by FRELIMO combatants , not Portuguese forces . In addition , others claimed that the alleged massacres by Portuguese military forces were fabricated to tar the reputation of the Portuguese state abroad . Portuguese journalist <unk> <unk> reconstructed the Wiriyamu massacre in detail by interviewing both survivors and former members of the Portuguese Army Commandos unit that carried out the massacre . <unk> 's report was published in the Portuguese weekly newspaper <unk> and later in a book containing several of the journalist 's articles . 
