Operation Gordian Knot

Operation Gordian Knot
Part of Mozambican War of Independence
Date 1 July 1970-6 August 1970 Location Mozambique Result Short-Term Portuguese Victory Portuguese army seizes initiative in northern provinces. FRELIMO re-organises and opens new southern front.
Belligerents
Portugal	FRELIMO
Commanders and leaders
Kaúlza de Arriaga	Samora Machel Alberto Chipande
Units involved
Forças Armadas Portuguese Army Portuguese Navy Portuguese Air Force	Forças Populares de Libertação de Moçambique
Strength
34,000-35,000 soldiers	9,000-11,000 guerillas
Casualties and losses
132 killed 82 wounded 15 vehicles destroyed/damaged	651 killed 1,840 captured 61 bases destroyed 165 camps and sanctuaries destroyed
4 civilians killed

Operation Gordian Knot (Operação Nó Górdio) was the largest and most expensive Portuguese military campaign in the Portuguese overseas province of Mozambique, East Africa. The operation was carried out in 1970, during the Portuguese Colonial War (1961–1974). The objectives of the campaign were to close down the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO)'s infiltration routes across the Tanzanian border and to destroy permanent FRELIMO bases inside the liberated zones in Northern Mozambique. Gordian Knot was a seven-month long campaign ultimately employing thirty-five thousand men, and was almost successful since it destroyed most guerrilla camps located inside FRELIMO's liberated zones and captured large numbers of rebels and armaments, forcing FRELIMO to retreat from their bases and outposts in the provinces.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} The operation ultimately failed when FRELIMO forces regrouped and thrust further south into the province of Tete, opening a new front and overstretching the Portuguese Army. The failure of Gordian Knot helped fuel the discontent that led to the Carnation Revolution in April 1974.