ZAÏRE
And the West once more helps Mobutu stop an invasion
Once again the copper-rich region of Shaba (formerly Katanga Province) in southeastern Zaïre was engulfed in civil war. An estimated 5,000 Katangese. guerrillas of the Congolese National Liberation Front (F.L.N.C.), which has been seeking autonomy for Shaba since Zaïre gained its independence from Belgium in 1960, launched a deadly strike on the region from their bases in Marxist-run Angola. In a seesaw battle with the forces of President Mobutu Sese Seko, the Katangese rebels—who variously refer to themselves as les tigres (French for tigers) or camaradas (Portuguese for comrades)—captured the provincial capital of Kolwezi (pop. 100,000). The rebels carried out coldblooded executions, slaughtering at least 100 whites and 300 blacks, before they were driven from the city.
There was an ominous sense of déjà vu about the rebel incursion. In March 1977, another contingent of Katangese invaded Shaba, capturing the town of Mutshatsha and approaching to within 20 miles of Kolwezi before they were turned back by Mobutu's forces and 1,500 Moroccan soldiers who had been airlifted into the area by the French. Last week's invasion was not only bigger and better planned; it was also, according to Washington, actively supported by Cuban troops who have been training the F.L.N.C. guerrillas in Angola. Responding to an urgent telephone plea from Mobutu, French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing dispatched 1,200 Foreign Legion paratroopers to Shaba. Belgian Premier Léo Tindemans sent another contingent of paras to help airlift 3,000 Europeans from Kolwezi. Units of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C., were placed on alert, and the White House announced that 18 Air Force C-141 transports, based in West Germany and along the U.S. East Coast, were assisting the French and Belgian operations.
Hearing radioed reports that Europeans in Kolwezi were being brutalized by the Katangese, French and Belgian units parachuted into the city. In bitter street-by-street fighting, they pushed the guerrillas back into isolated pockets and opened a corridor to Kolwezi airport, five miles outside of town, which had been recaptured by Zaïre troops. At week's end the rebel hold on the city was broken and a mass airlift of refugees began. For some the aid came too late. Paratroopers found clusters of bodies, and survivors told of mock trials on street corners followed by swift executions. Some Zaïre soldiers who had fallen into rebel hands had been killed the same way.
One of the first reporters to visit Kolwezi after its liberation was TIME Correspondent William McWhirter. His report: