[12] The Resistência Nacional Moçambicana (RENAMO) was formed in 1976 following Mozambican independence from Portugal and incorporated a number of diverse recruits brought together by their opposition to the country's new Marxist FRELIMO government, including disgruntled former colonial troops and deserters from the post-independence army and security forces.

[13] They were welded into a cohesive fighting unit by the Rhodesian Central Intelligence Organisation and Special Air Service, and RENAMO's numbers had swelled to about 2,000 by late 1979.

[13] Militants acted as scouts for Rhodesian military units carrying raids into Mozambique, launched attacks on major settlements, and sabotaged infrastructure from October 1979 onwards.

[13] The fighting escalated sharply between 1982 and 1984, during which RENAMO attacked and destroyed lines of communication, the road and rail network, and vital economic infrastructure.

[14] It merged during this period with the Revolutionary Party of Mozambique (PRM), another anti-FRELIMO militant group, and received training and support from South Africa's apartheid government.

[15] The end of the Cold War and FRELIMO's acceding to RENAMO demands for multi-party democracy in 1990 ensured a ceasefire and bilateral negotiations sponsored by Western governments.

[18] During the second round of general elections scheduled for December 1999, in which FRELIMO secured a much narrower majority of the popular vote, RENAMO contested the electoral processes and alleged widespread voter fraud.

[20] Some protestors began vandalizing state property and occupying official buildings, while a mob of FRELIMO supporters led by veterans of the civil war retaliated by destroying RENAMO's headquarters.

[18] The outbreak of violence in 2000 and the contested elections of 1999, as well as the appointment of new provincial governors, all of whom were known FRELIMO partisans, resulted in the continued breakdown of relations between the two formerly belligerent parties.

[30] In a consequent Beira conference, Renamo declared that it had won 139 seats in the seven northern and central provinces to just 34 for the ruling Frelimo Party and 14 for the Mozambique Democratic Movement.

[31] Cistac had previously endorsed a proposal by RENAMO to create semi-autonomous provinces, an issue upon which the ruling FRELIMO party is divided.

[31] On 14 June 2015 Dhlakama's forces perpetrated an ambush on Mozambican troops, claiming to kill as many as 35 government soldiers, bringing the cease-fire to a halt.

[32] In December 2015, Dhlakama once again threatened to seize control of six northern and central provinces in March 2016: Sofala, Tete, Niassa, Manica, Zambezia, and Nampula.

[34] The Mozambican government reopened peace talks with RENAMO in July 2016, only to cancel them in the wake of escalating violence and an impasse over the status of the six northern and central provinces, which Dhlakama insisted were under his party's control.

[35] On 12 August 2016 RENAMO rebels launched a major attack in Morrumbala District, destroying a clinic and freeing some prisoners held at the local police station.

[41] On 1 August 2019 President Filipe Nyusi and RENAMO leader Ossufo Momade signed a peace agreement bringing an end to the six-year conflict.

[4] In the following years, the RMJ continued to operate in Sofala and Manica Provinces,[3] but one of its key leaders, Andre Matsangaissa Junior, surrendered to the government in late 2020.

[3] Momade urged the few remaining RMJ holdouts (including Nhongo) to abandon the bush and rejoin RENAMO's main faction in March 2021.

[42] In early May, unknown gunmen, believed to be supporters of the RMJ, shot at the residence of an administrative post head Americo Nfumane at Capirizanje, Moatize District.

[44] In July 2021, RMJ leader Mariano Nhongo reaffirmed that he was ready for peace talks under the condition of excluding the RENAMO main faction.

[46] In December 2021, United Nations envoy Mirko Manzoni declared that the last remnant group of the RMJ, comprising 24 militants, had joined the "Demobilization, Disarmament and Reintegration" (DDR) program.

[35] UNHCR is currently monitoring temporary camps established for Mozambican refugees in Malawi, although it has cited insufficient funds and food supplies as potentially serious problems.