Operation Beanbag | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of Internal resistance to apartheid | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
South Africa | ANC (Umkhonto we Sizwe) Mozambique | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Unknown | Unknown Unknown | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
SADF | unknown | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
20 | unknown | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
2 killed 1 MIA (presumed dead) | 30 killed 11 killed | ||||||
1 civilian killed (Mozambique) |
Operation Beanbag, also known as the Matola Raid, was a military operation conducted by the South African Defence Force (SADF) against suspected safe houses of uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC), in Matola, Mozambique.
SADF intelligence identified a network of ANC safe houses in Matola as MK's planning headquarters for guerrilla operations in Transvaal Province, South Africa. [1] : 178 The South African team was made up of members from 1 and 6 Reconnaissance Regiments, the latter being made up of old Rhodesian SAS personnel. The operation was carried out on 30 January 1981, specifically targeting three houses in the Maputo suburb of Matola. [2]
The Mozambican government claims that the twenty SADF special forces members were driven from the border in vehicles that resembled Mozambican army vehicles. [1] : 178 One part of the team maintained a roadblock on the main road between Maputo and Matola, [1] : 178 while a second team attacked the three ANC buildings. A firefight broke out between the SADF and the ANC inhabitants. The reconnaissance team took two prisoners during the attack. [1] : 178 The reconnaissance teams rejoined and returned to the border with South Africa and were said to have been withdrawn by helicopter. [1] : 178
The SADF lost three personnel, one of whom could not be found during the withdrawal at the end of the operation and he was left behind. [1] : 178 6 Reconnaissance Regiment was disbanded later during the year and the remaining members integrated into the remaining special forces regiments. [3] The SADF claimed to have killed 30 MK militants. [1] : 178 The Mozambican government estimated a death toll of 11, including a civilian killed in the crossfire. [1] : 178 In its review of Operation Beanbag, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission found that the raid resulted in the deaths of 16 MK members, including 4 senior militant commanders, some of whom were killed during the attack and others who died of their injuries later. [4] The TRC also noted that a civilian was killed, possibly by accident, at the SADF roadblock. [4] The dead civilian was a Portuguese citizen who bore a close resemblance to prominent ANC official Joe Slovo, leading the party's supporters to speculate his death was the result of mistaken identity. [5]
ANC president Oliver Tambo subsequently issued a statement implying that Operation Beanbag had targeted unarmed civilian refugees rather than legitimate military targets. [6] He denied that the ANC and MK had any guerrilla camps in Mozambique. [6]
The raid was condemned by the United Nations as a violation of Mozambique's territorial integrity. [7]
The Mozambique Defence Armed Forces or FADM are the national armed forces of Mozambique. They include the General Staff of the Armed Forces and three branches of service: Army, Air Force and Navy.
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Operation Firewood was a secretive military operation in 1987 by the South African Defence Force (SADF) during the South African Border War.
Operation Skerwe was a military operation conducted by the South African Air Force (SAAF) against African National Congress (ANC) facilities based in the Matola suburb of Maputo city.
Brigadier-General Renier (Cojack) Coetzee was a General Officer in the South African Army from the recces.
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Operation Lark was two special forces naval operations in 1978 conducted by members of the South African Navy (SADF), 4 Reconnaissance Regiment and Rhodesian SAS during the South African Border War. Its objective was the assassination of Robert Mugabe at his residence in Maputo, Mozambique.
The Southern African Development Community Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) is an active regional peacekeeping mission operated by the Southern African Development Community in Northern Mozambique's Cabo Delgado Province.
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