Special Forces of Zimbabwe

Special Forces of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) describes the units of the Zimbabwe National Army that operate as special forces. These forces have been deployed in several African conflicts, including the Mozambique Civil War and the Second Congo War.

Composition

According to "Jane's Special Forces Recognition Guide" Special Forces in the Zimbabwe National Army consists of:

* One Commando Regiment (formerly One Commando Battalion) and base at Cranborne Barracks, Harare. The commando regiment is led by [http://www.zimbabwedefence.com/News_SF_Anniversary.html]
* One Parachute Regiment (sometimes referred to as Parachute Group) at Inkomo Barracks just North of Harare. The regiment is led by Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mazaiwana. [http://www.zimbabwedefence.com/News_SF_Anniversary.html]
* Combat Diving Unit.
* Special Air Service - based at Kabrit Barracks, adjacent to Harare Airport, under the command of Colonel Panga Kufa. [ [http://allafrica.com/stories/200706141067.html allAfrica.com: Zimbabwe: Army Investigates Reports of Coup Plot (Page 1 of 1) ] ]
* 1 x independent Armored Reconnaissance Squadron
* Anti Terrorism Unit which is part of the Zimbabwe Republic Police.
* Zimbabwe Mounted Infantry or Grey's Scouts, a horse-mounted reconnaissance unit. The main unit used to be based at Guinea Fowl. The battalion conducts border patrols and anti-poaching operations. The regiment is commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Bothwell Brian Chigaba [http://allafrica.com/stories/200804280968.html]
* Boat Squadron with five sub-units: [http://www.iss.co.za/pubs/Books/Evol_Revol%20Oct%2005/Chap13.pdf]
**A Troop, equipped with interceptor craft. Patrol boats include 2 x Rodman 46HJ, 3 x Rodman 38, 5 x Roadman 26, 8 x Type B 79 and an unknown number of Rodman 790s.
**B Troop maintained assault boats able to ferry troops ashore
**C Troop, with a large transporter, the Ubique—a 72 tonne landing craft capable of carrying 30 tonnes of men and equipment including armoured cars. Ubique was also armed with 12.7 and 7.62 mm machine guns for self-protection and covering fire purposes.
**D Troop—this support group was trained for protecting beach-heads and making assault landings for non-specialised units, employing mortar and support weapons.
**E Troop was deployed for the purposes of guarding the harbours on Lake Kariba and around the rest of the squadron, as required.

There is also a diving school, equipped with a decompression chamber, operated inconjunction with the commandos.

Operations

Mozambique

* 5-9 December 1984 the Parachute Group and Special Air Service (SAS) spearheaded Operation Lemon.
* 20th of August 1985 in Operation Grape Fruit the Parachute Group and One Command Battalion supported 3 Brigade in taking over the MNR Muxamba base.
* 28th of August 1985 SAS and Commando Regiment units lead raid on Casa Banana.
* 24th January 1986 in Operation Octopus, Paras and Commandos were dropped near Marromeu to secure the town and the sugar refinery. 27th January 1986 several Para drops were made in support of the operation. [ [http://ccrweb.ccr.uct.ac.za/archive/defencedigest/defdigest03.html Defence Digest - Working Paper 3 ] ]

Congo

Zimbabwean commandos defended Kinshasa at the last minute when it was on the brink of falling to rebels to invading Ugandan and Rwandan army units. Due to the river networks in the DRC, the Boat Squadron saw extensive use during the course of Zimbabwe’s involvement.

The Parachute Regiment suffered a heavy blow when 15 soldiers and together with their CASA 212 were captured after landing on an airstrip already controlled by the invading forces. It is believed the DRC government army unit they were supposed to join had defected to the rebels.

For more on past operations please see the Zimbabwe National Army page.

External links

* [http://users.usinternet.com/mitch/t2k/html/zimbabwe.html ZNA Special Forces, Training & Weapons]
* [http://www.parlzim.gov.zw/Resources/Acts/web%20pages/title10/chapter14.htm ZNA Amphibious Squadron is mentioned in Parliament]
* [http://www.militaryhorse.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3214&whichpage=4 Zimbabwe Mounted Infantry Battalion]
* [http://orbat.com/site/history/historical/zimbabwe/rhodesiaspecialforces.html Brief history of ZNA's Mounted Infantry & Parachute Battalion]

References