The Congo: The Hostages

Spurred on by white mercenaries, Moise Tshombe's reinvigorated army drove hard against the Congolese rebels. Loading their equipment aboard an ancient river steamboat, two commando units pulled out of their staging area at Kindu, crossed the Lualaba River, and, in 35 U.S. Army trucks, five Swedish troop carriers and four British armored cars, began their 350-mile march up the rutted rain-forest road to the rebel capital of Stanleyville. E.T.A. hopefully announced by Congolese Army Commander Joseph Mobutu: some time this week.

But victory might come high. As the week wore on, desperate rebel "President" Christophe Gbenye made the price look...

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