Flag of the Security Force Auxiliaries of Rhodesia

Flag of the Security Force Auxiliaries of Rhodesia (variant)

Security Force Auxiliaries or ''Pfumo Re Vanhu'' were black private militias in

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to th ...

formed during the

Rhodesian Bush War The Rhodesian Bush War, also called the Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Liberation, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe-Rhodesia). The conflict pitted three forc ...

, allied with the country's predominantly white government. In 1978 the Rhodesian Special Branch created the first SFA in the Msana Tribal Trust Lands (TTL). While the Rhodesian government intended for them only to serve as pro-government, anti-Communist militias, author Matthew Preston argues they became Prime Minister Muzorewa and Ndabaningi Sithole's "

private armies Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

." By 1979 there were 2,000 auxiliaries. By April there were 10,000. Not only did the auxiliaries protect voters, but in some cities, such as Karoi, Chinamore and Seki, they fought and defeated the Patriotic Front. Like the Rhodesian security forces and their guerrilla opponents, SFAs used torture to extract information.Preston, Matthew. ''Ending Civil War: Rhodesia and Lebanon in Perspective'', 2004. Page 63.

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Security Force Auxiliaries
Non-military counterinsurgency organizations Paramilitary forces of Rhodesia Militias Indigenous counterinsurgency forces {{Africa-mil-stub