Conflict episode
Guinea-Bissau War of Independence begins, 1963
The PAIGC began an armed insurgency against Portuguese colonial rule in 1963, a war that lasted until the 1974 Algiers Accord.
What happened
The PAIGC began an armed insurgency against Portuguese colonial rule in 1963. The most consistently cited casualty figures, from Portuguese military sources, put Portuguese deaths at 2,069 and wounded at 8,328; lower-confidence estimates separately cited put PAIGC combatant deaths at roughly 6,000 and civilian deaths at roughly 5,000, though these are less firmly established than the Portuguese military figures.[1] Separately, after independence approximately 7,447 African soldiers who had served in the Portuguese Army were executed by the PAIGC as reprisals, a figure distinct from combat deaths during the war itself.[2]
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: The most consistently cited casualty figures for the 1963-1974 Guinea-Bissau War of Independence, from Portuguese military sources, put Portuguese deaths at 2,069 and wounded at 8,328; lower-confidence estimates separately cited put PAIGC combatant deaths at roughly 6,000 and civilian deaths at roughly 5,000, though these are less firmly established than the Portuguese military figures.
- Guinea-Bissau War of Independence (Wikipedia) link, Casualties section. Source record
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2.
Claim: After Guinea-Bissau's independence, approximately 7,447 African soldiers who had served in the Portuguese Army were executed by the PAIGC as reprisals, a figure distinct from combat deaths during the war itself.
- PAIGC (Wikipedia) link, Post-independence reprisals section. Source record