Conflict episode
Angolan War of Independence begins, 1961
Nationalist uprisings in 1961, including attacks by the MPLA and the UPA (a forerunner of the FNLA), opened a thirteen-year war of independence against Portuguese colonial rule.
What happened
Nationalist uprisings beginning in 1961 opened a war of independence against Portuguese rule that lasted until 1974. Published casualty tallies vary: one commonly cited figure puts Portuguese military deaths at around 9,000 and insurgent deaths at around 30,000, but no single consolidated toll is treated as authoritative, and separately the 1961 Baixa de Cassange bombing's civilian death toll is itself disputed, with figures ranging from roughly 100 to unverified claims of up to 20,000.[1]
Sources for this page
Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.
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1.
Claim: Published estimates for the 1961–1974 Angolan War of Independence vary, with one commonly cited tally putting Portuguese military deaths at roughly 9,000 and insurgent deaths at roughly 30,000; separately, the civilian death toll of the 1961 Baixa de Cassange bombing is itself disputed, with figures ranging from about 100 to unverified claims of up to 20,000. No single consolidated casualty figure for the war is treated as authoritative.
- Angolan War of Independence (Wikipedia) link, Casualties and Baixa de Cassange sections. Source record