The Flechas (
Portuguese for ''Arrows'') were an elite paramilitary tactical unit of the Portuguese
secret police
image:Putin-Stasi-Ausweis.png, 300px, Vladimir Putin's secret police identity card, issued by the East German Stasi while he was working as a Soviet KGB liaison officer from 1985 to 1989. Both organizations used similar forms of repression.
Secre ...
(
PIDE
The International and State Defense Police (; PIDE) was a Portuguese security agency that existed during the '' Estado Novo'' regime of António de Oliveira Salazar. Formally, the main roles of the PIDE were the border, immigration and emigrati ...
, latter renamed DGS) that operated in
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...
and
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...
during the
Portuguese Colonial War
The Portuguese Colonial War (), also known in Portugal as the Overseas War () or in the Portuguese Empire, former colonies as the War of Liberation (), and also known as the Angolan War of Independence, Angolan, Guinea-Bissau War of Independence ...
. Unlike most of the other Portuguese special forces that were employed in the several theatres of operations of the conflict, the Flechas were not a ''de jure'' military unit but a
PIDE/DGS (secret police) unit.
Flechas were organized as
platoon
A platoon is a Military organization, military unit typically composed of two to four squads, Section (military unit), sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the Military branch, branch, but a platoon can ...
-sized units consisting of local
tribesmen and rebel defectors. They sometimes patrolled in captured uniforms and were rewarded with cash bounties for every guerrilla or guerrilla weapon they captured.
Flechas had a reputation for atrocities, brutality, torture, and
summary execution
In civil and military jurisprudence, summary execution is the putting to death of a person accused of a crime without the benefit of a free and fair trial. The term results from the legal concept of summary justice to punish a summary offense, a ...
s.
History
Flechas units were created and employed in
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...
, during the
Portuguese Colonial War
The Portuguese Colonial War (), also known in Portugal as the Overseas War () or in the Portuguese Empire, former colonies as the War of Liberation (), and also known as the Angolan War of Independence, Angolan, Guinea-Bissau War of Independence ...
, under the command of the PIDE (renamed DGS in 1969). Despite being a paramilitary police force, they were thus a police unit, not being under military command as the remaining special force.
Composed of locally recruited men, often former guerrilla fighters but mostly bushman
Khoisan
Khoisan ( ) or () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for the various Indigenous peoples of Africa, indigenous peoples of Southern Africa who traditionally speak non-Bantu languages, combining the Khoekhoen and the San people, Sān peo ...
, the units specialised in reconnaissance, tracking, unconventional tactics, and
pseudo-terrorist operations.
The Flechas were created and organized by Sub-Inspector Oscar Cardoso, when he was the head of the PIDE branch at Serpa Pinto, Angola (present day
Menongue
Menongue, formerly Serpa Pinto, is a Municipalities of Angola, municipality and the Capital city, capital of Cubango Province in Angola. The municipality had a population of 320,914 in 2014. It is one of the four municipalities in Angola whose inh ...
). Initially, the unit was intended to support the activities of the branch, whose area of responsibility covered the remote eastern areas of Angola that the Portuguese called ''Terras do Fim do Mundo'' (Lands of the End of the World) and which corresponded to the
Frente Leste theater. In this theater, they achieved a great success in the early 1970s, contributing for the virtual Portuguese victory in the campaign.
The success of the initial Flechas unit created by Oscar Cardoso, made PIDE/DGS to expand the concept and to created new groups attached to other of its local branches.
General
Costa Gomes – Portuguese Commander-in-Chief in Angola – argued that African soldiers were cheaper, knew the terrain better, and were better able to create a relationship with the local populace, a tactic that predates the '
hearts and minds' strategy later used by
United States forces
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Arts and entertainment Films
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in
Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
at the time.
Flechas units were also created and operated in Mozambique at the very end stages of the conflict, following the dismissal of
Kaúlza de Arriaga
Kaúlza de Oliveira de Arriaga, OA, GCC, OC, OIH (18 January 1915 – 2 February 2004) was a Portuguese general, writer, professor and politician. He was Secretary of State (junior minister) of the Air Force between 1953 and 1955 and command ...
on the eve of the
Portuguese coup in 1974. The units were to continue to cause problems for the
FRELIMO
FRELIMO (; from , ) is a democratic socialist political party in Mozambique. It has governed the country since its independence from Portugal in 1975.
Founded in 1962, FRELIMO began as a nationalist movement fighting for the self-determination ...
even after independence and Portuguese withdrawal, when the country splintered into
civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
.
[Brig. Michael Calvert, ''Counter-Insurgency in Mozambique,'' Journal of the Royal United Services Institute, no. 118, March 1973]
The Flechas served as model for the latter created Rhodesian
Selous Scouts
The Selous Scouts was a special forces unit of the Rhodesian Army that operated during the Rhodesian Bush War from 1973 until the reconstitution of the country as Zimbabwe in 1980. It was mainly responsible for infiltrating the black majority ...
and the South African
Koevoet
Koevoet (, Afrikaans for ''Crowbar (tool), crowbar'', also known as Operation K or SWAPOL-COIN) was the counterinsurgency branch of the South West African Police (SWAPOL). Its formations included white South African police officers, usually se ...
.
Organization
The Flechas were organized into platoon size combat groups of about 30 men each, although the formation was often loose. Each of these groups was dependent from a PIDE / DGS local branch, operating in its
area of responsibility
Area of responsibility (AOR) is a pre-defined geographic region assigned to Combatant commanders of the Unified Command Plan (UCP), that are used to define an area with specific geographic boundaries where they have the authority to plan and c ...
.
Uniforms and equipment
The Flechas received combat uniforms identical to those worn by the Portuguese Armed Forces, in the Portuguese
vertical lizard pattern camouflage. With this uniform, they wore a
beret
A beret ( , ; ; ; ) is a soft, round, flat-crowned cap made of hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, wool felt, or acrylic fibre.
Mass production of berets began in the 19th century in Southern France and the north of History of Spain (1808 ...
with the same camouflage pattern. This non standard camouflage beret became their most distinctive uniform item. In parade, the Flechas also wore neck scarves and metal tabs in the left shoulder with the name of the unit. Allegedly, in some operations, they wore enemy uniforms in order not to be identified.
The Flechas were also mostly armed with the standard small arms in use by the Portuguese Military, including the
Heckler & Koch G3
The Heckler & Koch G3 () is a selective fire, select-fire battle rifle chambered in 7.62×51mm NATO developed in the 1950s by the German firearms manufacturer Heckler & Koch, in collaboration with the Spanish state-owned firearms manufacturer CE ...
and
FN FAL
The FAL (, English: Light Automatic Rifle) is a battle rifle designed in Belgium by Dieudonné Saive and manufactured by FN Herstal and others since 1953.
During the Cold War the FAL was adopted by many countries of the NATO, North Atlantic Trea ...
7.62×51mm battle rifle
A battle rifle is a service rifle chambered to fire a fully powered cartridge.
The term "battle rifle" is a retronym created largely out of a need to differentiate automatic rifles chambered for fully powered cartridges from automatic rifles cha ...
s. They also frequently used captured
AK-47
The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is an assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kala ...
rifles and they showed a special preference for the use of tribal traditional weapons, including
spear
A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with Fire hardening, fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable materia ...
s and the
bows and arrows which gave origin to the name of the unit.
After independence
In 1975 a group of ex-Flechas who had fled Mozambique after its Independence formed the insurgent group
RENAMO
RENAMO (from the Portuguese , ) is a Mozambican political party and militant group. The party was founded with the active sponsorship of the Rhodesian Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) in May 1977 from anti-communist dissidents oppos ...
and subsequently fought in the
Mozambique Civil War. Other Flechas were enlisted in the
Rhodesian Army
The Rhodesian Security Forces were the military forces of the Rhodesian government. The Rhodesian Security Forces consisted of a ground force (the Rhodesian Army), the Rhodesian Air Force, the British South Africa Police, and various personnel ...
's
Selous Scouts
The Selous Scouts was a special forces unit of the Rhodesian Army that operated during the Rhodesian Bush War from 1973 until the reconstitution of the country as Zimbabwe in 1980. It was mainly responsible for infiltrating the black majority ...
.
Other special forces units
There were a number of other Portuguese special forces units were unique to the
Portuguese Colonial War
The Portuguese Colonial War (), also known in Portugal as the Overseas War () or in the Portuguese Empire, former colonies as the War of Liberation (), and also known as the Angolan War of Independence, Angolan, Guinea-Bissau War of Independence ...
:
*
Special Groups (''Grupos Especiais''): units similar to the ones used in Angola
*
Paratrooper Special Groups (''Grupos Especiais Pára-Quedistas''): units of volunteer black soldiers that had paratrooper training
* Combat Tracking Special Groups (''Grupos Especiais de Pisteiros de Combate''): special units trained in tracking
See also
*
Koevoet
Koevoet (, Afrikaans for ''Crowbar (tool), crowbar'', also known as Operation K or SWAPOL-COIN) was the counterinsurgency branch of the South West African Police (SWAPOL). Its formations included white South African police officers, usually se ...
*
Selous Scouts
The Selous Scouts was a special forces unit of the Rhodesian Army that operated during the Rhodesian Bush War from 1973 until the reconstitution of the country as Zimbabwe in 1980. It was mainly responsible for infiltrating the black majority ...
*
RENAMO
RENAMO (from the Portuguese , ) is a Mozambican political party and militant group. The party was founded with the active sponsorship of the Rhodesian Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) in May 1977 from anti-communist dissidents oppos ...
Footnotes
Works cited
*
{{Portuguese Colonial War, state=expanded
Special forces of Portugal
Military history of Angola
Portuguese Colonial War
1970s in Angola
Counterinsurgency
Irregular units and formations
Military units and formations of the Cold War
Indigenous counterinsurgency forces