- Kolwezi
Kolwezi is a city in the south of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo , west ofLikasi in the province ofKatanga . It is home to anairport and arailway toLubumbashi . The population is approximately 418,000.Kolwezi is an important
mining centre forcopper andcobalt . There are alsouranium ,radium ,oxide ores, and lime deposits.History
The city was created in 1937 to be the headquarters for the western mining group of the High Katanga Mining Association (UMHK).
On
May 13 1978 , rebels supported byAngola , occupied the city. The government ofZaire asked theU.S. ,France ,Morocco andBelgium to restore order. The 2e REP, an eliteparatrooper s unit of theFrench Foreign Legion , were sent in to drive out the rebels and rescue any hostages. TheBelgian army also deployed a force of some 750 paratroopers and moved out just over 1,800 Europeans to other cities in the region. 700 Africans, among which 250 rebels, [Général Gaussères. "Les enseignements de Kolwezi - Mai 1978", in les Cahiers du Retex n° 12, supplément à Objectif doctrine 37 (published by Centre de doctrine de l'emploi des forces, Ministère de la Défense). On line : [http://www.cdef.terre.defense.gouv.fr/publications/cahiers_drex/cahier_retex/retex12.pdf] , 37-31] 170 European hostages and 6 paratroopers died.Near Kolwezi there is the
static inverter plant of the HVDCInga-Shaba . [ [http://www.dalarnastidningar.se/nyheter/ludvika/article222591.ece Dalarnas Tidningar - Ludvika ] ]ee also
*
Shaba I
*Shaba II
*Angolan Civil War References
External links
* [http://www.greatestcities.com/Africa/Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo_formerly_Zaire/Kolwezi_city.html Small site on the city of Kolwezi, with some pictures]
*"The French Foreign Legion in Kolwezi"(Broken Promise) [http://legion-etrangere-foreign-legion.cabanova.fr/] By Roger Rousseau aux Editions Rexy ISBN 2-9526927-1-8
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