Front for the National Liberation of the Congo

Shaba Province, Zaire.

The Front for the National Liberation of the Congo (FNLC) is a rebel group that fought against the government of Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaire in the 1970s. The FNLC's invasions of Shaba, Zaire in 1977 and 1978 sparked two international wars, Shaba I and Shaba II, further complicating the Angolan Civil War.

Shaba I

Main article: Shaba I

1,500 members of the FNLC, including a small group of former Katangan gendarmes, invaded Shaba, Zaire from eastern Angola on March 7, 1977. The FNLC wanted to overthrow Mobutu. They quickly captured Kolwezi, Zaire's economic heartland, Kasaji, and Mutshatsha and defeated Zairian troops without difficulty. Mobutu appealed to William Eteki of Cameroon, Chairman of the Organization of African Unity, for assistance on April 2. The French government airlifted 1,500 Moroccan troops into Kinshasa on April 10. This troop force worked in conjunction with the Zairian army to beat back the FNLC with air cover from Egyptian pilots flying French Mirage fighter aircraft. The Franco-Egyptian-Moroccan force pushed the last of the militants, along with a number of refugees, into Angola and Zambia by April.^[1][2][3][4]

See also

• Shaba II
• First Congo War
• Second Congo War

References

1. ^ Schraeder, Peter J. United States Foreign Policy Toward Africa: Incrementalism, Crisis and Change, 199. Pages 87-88.
2. ^ Constantine Panos Danopoulos and Cynthia Ann Watson. The Political Role of the Military: An International Handbook, 1996. Page 451.
3. ^ Julius Omozuanvbo Ihonvbere, and John Mukum Mbaku. Political Liberalization and Democratization in Africa: Lessons from Country Experiences, 2003. Page 228.
4. ^ Tanca, Antonio. Foreign Armed Intervention in Internal Conflict, 1993. Page 169.