Malawi had a complicated relationship with both FRELIMO and RENAMO. During the mid-1980s, FRELIMO repeatedly accused Malawian president Hastings Banda of providing sanctuary for RENAMO insurgents. Mozambican security forces occasionally carried out raids into Malawi to strike at suspected RENAMO base camps in that country, a practice which brought them into direct confrontation with the Malawian Defence Force. In 1986, Malawi bowed to Mozambican pressure and expelled 12,000 RENAMO insurgents. Banda explicitly turned against RENAMO after the disgruntled insurgents began targeting a vital rail line which linked Blantyre to Mozambican ports on the Indian Ocean coast. Beginning in April 1987 the Malawian government deployed troops into Mozambique to defend the rail line, where they were involved in a number of engagements with RENAMO.