Mozambican Civil War FRELIMO within a year and to form a transitional government in the interim. When this was made known to the public, several thousand Portuguese colonials fled the newly independent country and a clandestine group calling themselves the "Dragons of Death" seized the primary radio transmittor in the capital, Lourenço Marques, and demanded an independent Mozambique without FRELIMO. As a result of the mass exodus of trained professionals, the economy and social organization of Mozambique was shattered on independence. On 25 June 1975 Mozambique became independence from Portugal, with Samora Machel becoming President of the People's Republic of Mozambique. The independence
Transport in Mozambique total of 30,400 km of highways, of which 5,685 km was paved. There are 3,750 km of navigable waterways. Seaports on the Indian Ocean coast include: the merchant marine fleet consisted of three cargo ships of 1,000 gt or over, totaling 4,125 gt/. Two of these were Belgian-owned ships registered in Mozambique as a flag of convenience. there were 158 airports in total, 22 of them having paved runways. The main airport in the country is Maputo International Airport, which is also the hub of Mozambique's flag carrier, LAM Mozambique Airlines. Transport in Mozambique Modes of transport in Mozambique include