Pretoria strikes again
Even by the efficient standards of the South African military, the operation was brutal. After dawn, 43 heavily armed troops of South Africa's seasoned, mostly black 32nd Battalion were airlifted across the Namibian border into the rocky terrain of the Cambeno valley, some 15 miles away in the southwestern corner of Angola. Then, supported by helicopter gunships, they destroyed a secret, unfortified supply base manned by an estimated 250 guerrillas of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO). The toll: 201 guerrillas killed. Only three South African soldiers were...