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{{Unreferenced|date=November 2008}}
Shaba I was a conflict between the neighboring states of
ZaireThe Republic of Zaire was the name of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo between 27 October 1971, and 17 May 1997. The name of Zaire derives from the , itself an adaptation of the Kongo word nzere or nzadi, or "the river that swallows all rivers".Known as the Belgian Congo up until its...
and
AngolaAngola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean. The exclave province of Cabinda has a border with the Republic of the...
in 1977, and was arguably a consequence of Zaire's support for the
FNLAThe National Front for the Liberation of Angola was a militant organization that fought for Angolan independence from Portugal in the war of independence under the leadership of Holden Roberto. The FNLA became a political party in 1992....
and
UNITAThe National Union for the Total Independence of Angola is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought with the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola in the Angolan War for Independence and then against the MPLA in the ensuing civil war .The war was one of...
factions in the
Angolan Civil WarThe Angolan Civil War began in Angola after the end of the war for independence from Portugal in 1975. The war featured conflict between two primary Angolan factions, the Communist MPLA and the anti-Communist UNITA...
.
The conflict began on March 8, 1977 when about 2,000 members of the
Front for the National Liberation of the CongoThe Front for the National Liberation of the Congo is a rebel group that fought against the government of Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaire in the 1970s...
(FLNC), invaded
ShabaKatanga is a southern province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Between 1971 and 1997, its official name was Shaba Province. Under the new constitution, the province is to be replaced by four smaller provinces by February 2009. Its regional capital is Lubumbashi...
province in south western Zaire, with the support of
AngolaAngola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean. The exclave province of Cabinda has a border with the Republic of the...
's MPLA government and the possible involvement of
CubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city. Cuba is home to over 11 million people and is...
n troops.
President
Mobutu Sese SekoMobutu Sésé Seko Nkuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga , commonly known as Mobutu or Mobutu Sésé Seko , born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, became the President of Zaire after deposing Joseph Kasavubu. He remained in office for 31.5 years...
of Zaire appealed for outside support on April 2. The war ended when 1,500
MoroccanMorocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 32 million and an area just under . Its capital is Rabat, and its largest city is Casablanca. Morocco has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the...
troops, airlifted into Zaire on April 10 by the French government, beat back the FNLC.
The attack led to government reprisals, which led to the mass exodus of refugees as well as further political and economic instability within Zaire itself.
The FLNC carried out a second invasion (
Shaba IIShaba II was an invasion of the Shaba separatist movement FNLC into the Zairian province of Shaba on 17 May 1978. The FNLC had its bases in eastern Angola and probably had the support of the Angolan government...
), the following year.
In Gemene (Oriental + nord Kivu) defeated the un europen peace keepers, 50,000 soldiers
and civilians were killed in the conflict.
Background
{{Context|date=November 2008}}
Included in the invading force was a small remnant of the Katangan gendarmes that had supported the
secessionSecession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity.-Secession theory:...
of
KatangaKatanga is a southern province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Between 1971 and 1997, its official name was Shaba Province. Under the new constitution, the province is to be replaced by four smaller provinces by February 2009. Its regional capital is Lubumbashi...
from Congo under the leadership of
Moise TshombeMoïse Kapenda Tshombe was a Congolese politician.- Biography :He was the son of a successful Congolese businessman and was born in Musumba, Congo. He received his education from an American missionary school and later trained as an accountant...
in 1960. When
KasavubuJoseph Kasa-Vubu was the first President of the Republic of the Congo, today called Democratic Republic of the Congo....
recalled Tshombe from
exileExile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened by prison or death upon return...
in 1964, elements of this force had been incorporated into the Congolese National Army (
Armée National Congolaise or ANC) to help fight the insurrections simmering throughout the country. After Tshombe disappeared from the political scene, the Katangan contingent mutinied in 1966 and again in 1967. When these uprisings failed, most of the contingent left for Angola under Nathaniel Mbumba's leadership. During the late 1960s, the former gendarmes began to congregate in Angola along Zaire's southern border, and during the late 1960s and early 1970s, they fought for the
PortuguesePortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east...
against Angolan
nationalist movementsThe Angolan War of Independence began as an uprising against forced cotton harvesting, and became a multi-faction struggle for control of Portugal's Overseas Province of Angola with 11 separatist movements...
. After the Portuguese departed in 1975, the
MPLAThe Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola - Party of Labour is an Angolan political party that has ruled the country since independence of the then Portuguese Angola in 1975...
enlisted the rebel Zairians in their cause and continued to arm and train them. It was the remnants of this force, augmented by other Zairian dissidents from Shaba and elsewhere, and still led by Mbumba, which invaded Shaba in 1977.{{Citation needed|date=August 2007}}
Invasion
The invaders launched a three-pronged attack on March 8, 1977. Within weeks the FLNC had captured several towns and controlled the railroad to a point thirty kilometers from the
copperCopper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29.It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is rather soft and malleable and a freshly-exposed surface has a pinkish or peachy color...
-mining town of
KolweziKolwezi is a city in 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. The population is approximately 418,000....
. Shortly after the invasion began, the dissidents made it clear that they were not merely a reincarnation of the earlier Katangan secessionist movement but instead aimed to take over the entire country and depose Mobutu. After their initial success, the rebels stalled on their way to Kolwezi; nevertheless, Mobutu's position seemed dire. This rapid advance and the threat to Kolwezi forced Mobutu to appeal for international assistance.{{Citation needed|date=August 2007}}
BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, and the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
responded to Mobutu's request by immediately airlifting military supplies to Zaire. Other
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
n states also supported Zaire during this crisis, and
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
and
MoroccoMorocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 32 million and an area just under . Its capital is Rabat, and its largest city is Casablanca. Morocco has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the...
joined Belgium, France, and the United States by providing assistance. Egypt provided 50 pilots and technicians. The pilots flew the French-built
Mirage jetsMirage is the name of a series of military jets produced by the French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation. Note also that except for the Mirage F1, the wings of all the other variant comes without flaps.-Versions:*Dassault Mirage III...
of the Zairian air force throughout the conflict. Morocco provided 1,500 combat troops. French aircraft airlifted these soldiers to Kolwezi on April 9, and on April 14, a combined Zairian and Moroccan force counterattacked. This reinforcement immediately improved the FAZ's morale, and by the end of May the joint force had regained control of Shaba. In addition to the recapture of Shaba, the Moroccan presence had the added benefit of permitting Mobutu to keep his elite airborne units in
Kinshasa{{clear}}{{clear}}{{clear}}{{clear}}{{clear}}{{clear}}{{Infobox settlement|name = Kinshasa|official_name =|other_name = formerly Léopoldville or Leopoldstad...
, ready to respond to a crisis elsewhere in the country.{{Citation needed|date=August 2007}}
Withdrawal
The invading force had expected a general uprising in support of its operation; however, because of the fragmentation of Zairian opposition groups, as well as the FLNC's distinctive ethnic base (Lunda and Ndembu), this uprising did not materialize. The FLNC was prevented from consolidating its gains and became susceptible to the Zairian-Moroccan counterattack. Nevertheless, during what came to be known as the Eighty-Day War, the FLNC suffered no serious defeats, its troop strength had not diminished significantly, and its capability to conduct insurgent operations remained intact. The FLNC withdrew to Angola, and possibly to Zambia, and began to regroup for another attack. Thus, although to a limited extent the crushing of Shaba I might be regarded as a model of international cooperation, the victorious forces failed to complete the job. Probably more significant, however, was Zaire's failure to follow up its military success with political and economic reforms to ensure long-term stability. Government reprisals after Shaba I drove 50,000 to 70,000 refugees to Angola. Also, Zaire's continued support for Angolan dissident groups ensured continued Angolan government support for the FLNC.{{Citation needed|date=August 2007}}
Impact on Zaire's military
The poor performance of Zaire's military during Shaba I gave evidence of chronic weaknesses. One problem was that some of the Zairian soldiers in the area had not received pay for extended periods. Senior officers often kept the money intended for the soldiers, typifying a generally disreputable and inept senior leadership in the FAZ. As a result many soldiers simply deserted rather than fight. Others stayed with their units but were ineffective.{{Citation needed|date=August 2007}}
During the months following the Shaba invasion, Mobutu sought solutions to the military problems that had contributed to the army's dismal performance. He implemented sweeping reforms of the command structure, including wholesale firings of high-ranking officers. He merged the military general staff with his own presidential staff and appointed himself chief of staff again, in addition to the positions of minister of defense and supreme commander that he already held. He redeployed his forces throughout the country instead of keeping them close to Kinshasa, as had previously been the case. The Kamanyola Division, at the time considered the army's best unit and referred to as the president's own, was assigned permanently to Shaba. In addition to these changes, the army's strength was reduced by 25%, presumably to eliminate disloyal and ineffective elements. Zaire's allies provided a large influx of military equipment, and Belgian, French, and American advisers assisted in rebuilding and retraining the force.{{Citation needed|date=August 2007}}