The White Legion was a
mercenary unit during the
First Congo War
The First Congo War, group=lower-alpha (1996–1997), also nicknamed Africa's First World War, was a civil war and international military conflict which took place mostly in Zaire (present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo), with major spillo ...
(1996–97) employed on the side of
Zaire President
Mobutu Sese Seko
Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the president of Zaire from 1965 to 1997 (known as the Democratic Republic o ...
. This group of several hundred men, mostly from former
Yugoslavia, was given the task of defending the city of
Kisangani and training Zairean troops. This effort was largely unsuccessful and in mid-March 1997 the mercenaries left the country.
Lead-up
In late 1996,
Eluki Monga Aundu
Eluki Monga Aundu (6 April 1941 – 8 September 2022) was a Congolese military officer who achieved the rank of general.
Biography
Monga earned degrees in humanities and social sciences from the École interarmes in Belgium. In 1965, he became ...
, the Army Chief of Staff of the
Zairean Armed Forces
The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: Forces armées de la république démocratique du Congo ARDC The abbreviation ARDC may refer to:
*Air Research and Development Command, later renamed the Air Force Systems Command
* Amateur Radio Digital Communications, a mode using IP addresses beginning with 44.x
*American Racing Drivers Club, a midget car ...
is the armed forces, state organisation responsible for defending the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The FARD ...
, stated to Prime Minister
Léon Kengo
Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to:
Places
Europe
* León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León
* Province of León, Spain
* Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...
that launching a counter-offensive against the invading forces in the Kivu Provinces would be impossible without the use of mercenaries. Aundu asked Kengo to set up a plan to hire mercenaries, which was also approved by President
Mobutu Sese Seko
Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the president of Zaire from 1965 to 1997 (known as the Democratic Republic o ...
. From that point on the use of mercenaries was allowed. Mobutu apparently sought the help of
Executive Outcomes, a
private military company which had already worked in both the
Angolan and
Sierra Leone Civil Wars. He however refused their offer after deeming the price too high. He then, amongst others, chose soldiers that until recently had been serving in the
Bosnian Serb Army
The Army of Republika Srpska ( sr, Војска Републике Српске/Vojska Republike Srpske; ВРС/VRS), commonly referred to in English as the Bosnian Serb Army, was the military of Republika Srpska (RS), the self-proclaimed Serb ...
.
[Fitzsimmons, 233]
There were four groups of mercenaries in Zaire in late 1996. There was a group of around twenty to thirty Western Europeans, with the majority being French under the lead of the Belgian former colonel
Christian Tavernier. Another group consisted of the Bosnian Serbs, which Khareen Pech estimates to be eighty to a hundred men. There was also a small number of Ukrainian pilots. A last group consisted of South African security advisors and pilots.
White Legion
The group of Eastern European mercenaries fighting on the side of Mobutu Sese Seko used the name White Legion.
[Fitzsimmons, 231] The mercenaries consisted mostly of members of the 10th Sabotage Detachment of the Bosnian Serb Army (
Army of Republika Srpska), and was joined by several other mercenaries.
[Fitzsimmons, 235] Although the unit had been nominally Serbian while fighting in the
Bosnian War
The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...
it did consist of ethnic Serbians, Croatians and Bosniaks. It had reported to
Ratko Mladić directly.
[Fitzsimmons, 234] The Legion was deployed on 14 January 1997 and was tasked with training the troops of the Zairean Armed Forces and with defending the city of
Kisangani, which was deemed strategically important.
[
The White Legion was commanded by Colonel Jugoslav "Yugo" Petrušić also known as "Dominic Yugo".][Musah, 138] Petrušić had strong connections to the French Direction de la surveillance du territoire and therefore managed to obtain the mercenary contract more easily.[ Lieutenant Milorad Pelemis was the deputy commander of the White Legion, he had previously served as commander of the 10th Sabotage Detachment and was a junior officer to Petrusic.][
Personal initiative by the White Legion was limited, with missions only being carried out if a specific monetary reward was offered. A lack of pay made the mercenaries retreat to Kisangani and refuse to fight in early spring 1997.
Apart from their task of protecting Kisangani the mercenaries were also tasked with training Zaire troops. The mercenaries however mostly failed to do so.][
]
Fighting
The White Legion consisting of Serbs was deployed at Kisangani on 14 January 1997 and was tasked with protecting the cities airports and providing air support to allied troops.[Musah, 140] The also started training the military intelligence force Service d'action et de renseignements militaires (SARM) on unarmed combat and firearms usage of the AK-47, M53 and Dragunov sniper rifle.[
The Serb troops in Kisangani were soon sick with dysentery and malaria. They also had difficulty coordinating with the Zaire army as they did not speak French nor Swahili. Furthermore, they were reported to have been drunk frequently and harassing civilians.][Stearns, 123] Petrusic became notorious along the locals. He drove around in a jeep and shot and killed two preachers who annoyed him by using megaphones. Petrusic also tortured civilians with electric shocks from car batteries and bayonet prodding after suspecting them to be AFDL
The Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (ADFLC; french: Alliance des Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Congo-Zaïre; AFDL) was a coalition of Rwandan, Ugandan, Burundian, and Congolese dissidents, disgrun ...
infiltrators.[Stearns, 124]
The French troops under Christian Tavernier were located at Watsa
Watsa is a community in the Haut-Uele Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, administrative center of the Watsa Territory. It is served by Watsa Airport, a grass airstrip south of the town.
Watsa was the location of the VI battalion o ...
, a town without strategic importance. Tavernier had obtained mining rights there, but was mostly spending time at the Memling Hotel in Kinshasa
Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...
.[
As time passed the relations between the different groups of mercenaries deteriorated. With the French troops accusing the Serbs of the White Legion of amateurism.][ When the fighting started Serb troops failed to give air support to the French mercenaries.][
Rebel forces attacked the mercenary position at ]Watsa
Watsa is a community in the Haut-Uele Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, administrative center of the Watsa Territory. It is served by Watsa Airport, a grass airstrip south of the town.
Watsa was the location of the VI battalion o ...
on 2 February 1997, which forced the mercenaries to retreat.[Fitzsimmons, 242] On 1 March the mercenaries were tasked with defending their main airbase, Kindu Airport, when the rebels attacked them and took over the base. Soon thereafter the village of Babagulu, which was defended by the mercenaries, was attacked and taken over by the rebels.[ The rebels thereafter planned to march onto Kisangani.
The mercenary forces mainly fought defensively, trying to keep control over settlements by laying minefields and using other explosive charges. The only action in which they used a full frontal attack on the enemy was on 10–11 March, when they attacked rebel forces advancing on the road between ]Bafwasende
Bafwasende is a town in the Tshopo Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It lies on the Lindi River
The Lindi is a minor river of northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It flows through the Tshopo and North Kivu
North Kivu ...
and Kisangani. In this action they managed to push back the rebels five kilometers.[
However, the White Legion was defeated in the in mid-March 1997, five days after their earlier success.][Fitzsimmons, 244] During their defense they managed to inflict few casualties or injuries. Shortly before the fall of the city the mercenaries destroyed their headquarters with explosives to prevent the opposite side from capturing their ammunition.
Apart from their sabotage troops the mercenaries also had six pilots and access to aircraft: four Mil Mi-24 helicopters, one Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma helicopter, five SA 341 Gazelle helicopters, Soko G-4 Super Galeb and Soko J-21 Jastreb and three SIAI-Marchetti S.211
The SIAI-Marchetti S.211 (later Aermacchi S-211) is a turbofan-powered military trainer aircraft designed and originally marketed by Italian aviation manufacturer SIAI-Marchetti.
SIAI-Marchetti started to develop the S-211 in 1976 as a private v ...
aircraft. However, their use of these aircraft was not always effective due to a lack of coordination with allied forces.[Fitzsimmons, 252]
References
Notes
Sources
* Fitzsimmons, Scott
''Mercenaries in Asymmetric Conflicts''
Cambridge University Press, 2012.
* Musah, Abdel-Fatau, Kayode Fayemi
''Mercenaries: An African Security Dilemma''
Pluto Press, 2000.
* Stearns, Jason K. ''Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: the collapse of Congo and the Great War of Africa''. PublicAffairs, 2011.
{{Armed groups in the Congo wars
Factions of the First Congo War
Mercenary units and formations