Shaba II was a brief conflict fought in the

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

an province of Shaba (now Katanga) in 1978. The conflict broke out on 11 May 1978 after 6,500 rebels from the Congolese National Liberation Front (FNLC), a Katangese separatist militia, crossed the border from

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

into Zaire in an attempt to achieve the province's secession from the Zairian regime of

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 ...

. The FNLC captured the important mining town of

Kolwezi Kolwezi or Kolwesi is the capital city of Lualaba Province in the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, west of Likasi. It is home to an airport and a railway to Lubumbashi. Just outside of Kolwezi there is the static inverter plan ...

.Widstrand, Carl Gösta, Timothy M. Shaw, and Douglas George Anglin. ''Canada, Scandinavia, and Southern Africa'', 1978. Page 130.

Foreign involvement

The Mobutist government appealed for foreign assistance and French and

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

military intervention beat back the invasion, just as in 1977.George, Edward. ''The Cuban Intervention in Angola, 1965-1991: From Che Guevara to Cuito Cuanavale'', 2005. Page 136. The US and

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

coerced Angola and Zaire into negotiations leading to a non-aggression pact. That ended support for insurgencies in each other's countries. Zaire temporarily cut off support to the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC), the

National Liberation Front of Angola The National Front for the Liberation of Angola ( pt, Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola; abbreviated FNLA) is a political party and former militant organisation that fought for Angolan independence from Portugal in the war of independenc ...

(FNLA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (

UNITA The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola ( pt, União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola, abbr. UNITA) is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought alongside the Popular Movement for ...

), and Angola forbade further activity by the Shaba separatists. The US worked with France in repelling the invaders in the first military co-operation between the two since the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. U.S. Air Force elements involved included a Combat Control Team (air traffic controllers) of the 435th Tactical Airlift Wing, the 445th Airlift Wing, and other airlift wings.

Battle of Kolwezi

The

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, cavalry, engineers, airborne troops. It was created in 1831 to allow foreign nationals into the French Army ...

's 2 Foreign Paratroop Regiment had 600 troops, who took back Kolwezi after a seven-day battle and airlifted 2,250 European citizens to Belgium but not before the FNLC had massacred 80 Europeans and 200 Africans. In one instance, the FNLC killed 34 European civilians who had hidden in a room. However, Zairean helicopter pilot Pierre Yambuya claims that many of the civilian deaths were caused by Zairian armed forces, not the FLNC.NDAYWELE NZIEM, ISIDORE, Histoire Générale du Congo, p.757 see https://books.google.com/books?id=U47B0mwVU_4C&pg=PA757&lpg=PA757&dq=pierre+yambuya+flnc&source=bl&ots=MkmkKQFsEw&sig=eArIJeKhBg8vppKYtpIml1Evwjo&hl=nl&sa=X&ei=zR9ST9eDGcXrObni0ZsK&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=pierre%20yambuya%20flnc&f=false

Conclusion

The FNLC retreated to Zambia and back to Angola, vowing to return. The Zairian armed forces (

Forces Armées Zaïroises The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: Forces armées de la république démocratique du Congo ARDC is the state organisation responsible for defending the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The FARDC was rebuilt pa ...

) forcibly evicted civilians along Shaba's border with Angola, and Mobutu ordered them to shoot on sight.Inside Kolwezi: Toll of Terror
June 5, 1978. ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

'' magazine

References

External links

Shaba II: The French and Belgian Intervention in Zaire in 1978
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaba Ii Cold War in Africa 1978 in Angola History of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Wars involving Belgium Wars involving France Wars involving the Democratic Republic of the Congo Zaire Conflicts in 1978 1978 in Zaire Proxy wars

Foreign involvement

Battle of Kolwezi

Conclusion

See also

References

External links