Battle of Cuito Cuanavale
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The battle of Cuito Cuanavale was one of the most important episodes of the Civil War in Angola (which started in 1975 and ended in 2002) on the one hand and the South African Border War on the other. Cuba, Angola and South Africa fought at Cuito Cuanavale in 1987, and the battle has been called "Africa's largest land battle since World War II"[#endnote_Great]. It has been widely used as a subject of propaganda with all sides claiming victory, and it is still a controversial subject among scholars.
Context
Independence from Portugal
Three armed groups were fighting for independence from Portugal: the marxist MPLA (with it's armed wing FAPLA) lead by Agostinho Neto; the conservative FNLA lead by Holden Roberto and UNITA, lead by the charismatic Jonas Savimbi. Each one of them controlled specific areas of the country; MPLA controlled the capital, Luanda. UNITA controlled the south and FNLA had it's stronghold in the north of Angola.
Soon after the 1974 coup d'etat in Portugal called the Carnation Revolution, Angola was one of the former Portuguese colonies in Africa to receive it's independence, the treaty of Alvor marked a series of agreements between the three factions and Portugal.
A transtitional government was approved and elections were scheduled for the end of the year. That day Agostinho Neto proclaimed: "At 0:00 hours of November 11 of 1975, in the name of the Angola's people and the central committee of the MPLA. I proclaim the independence"[#endnote_Speach]. This fragile truce was not respected by any faction, and pretty soon civil war started.
Angolan civil war
Following the hast independence from Portugal a civil war errupted between the thre groups fighting for control and continued more or less unabated until 2002. The Angolan Civil War was one of the most complex and brutal conflicts in Africa history. An estimated one million lives were lost and the country and it's infrastructure was left completely devastated.Cold War
The tragedy played itself out against the backdrop of the Cold War struggle between the Soviet Union and the United States. Both superpowers realised the strategic importance of Southern Africa, because it not only offered a wealth of natural resources (petroleum, natural gas, gold, diamonds) but also the shipping routes around it's coast. Both sides tried to influence the outcome of the civil war, either through direct overt military support in the case of the Soviet Union led Eastern bloc, most notably Cuba, or indirect military and political support in the case of the United States' (and to a much lesser extent France through the sale of military equipment to South Africa) assistance to UNITA and South Africa.Roleplayers
MPLA
The MPLA, knowing that it would lose the war, decided to call for logistical support from the Communist regime of Cuba. Between January and August of 1975, Neto asked for the creation of a military school, weapons, means of transportation, transmiters, uniforms and equipment[#endnote_Letters]. By the end of the year some Cuban troops arrived to help the FAPLA after the battle of Quifadongo. By March of 1976 Cuba had sent around 36,000 troops, all of them under voluntary service and mainly to assist FAPLA officers.Eastern Bloc
Apart from the Cuban troops and equipment several members of the Eastern Bloc under Soviet direction provided support to the MPLA, mostly in the form of specialized technical staff (including pilots) as well as military hardware. Soviet generals fulfilled leadership roles.UNITA
UNITA received heavy support from the USA and South Africa, while the USA only helped UNITA with money and weaponry, South Africa decided to send around 5,000 troops in aid.South Africa
South Africa's interests lay in preventing MPLA and Communist control of Angola, because it bordered on South African controlled Namibia (at the time called South West Africa by South Africa) which was under threat from SWAPO terrorist attacks. SWAPO was also a marxist alligned and Soviet supplied and trained force and as such enjoyed cooperation with and the protection of MPLA. South Africa wanted to keep a buffer zone in southern Angola clear of MPLA and SWAPO control or at least limit and weaken their presence as much as possible.FNLA
The FNLA received support from the dictator of Zaire, Mobutu Sese Seko (who was Holden Roberto's brother-in-law), who had sent around 2,000 troops. At the time of the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale however, they no longer existed for all practical purposes. The group had long since split into two factions and both faction leaders were living in exile. Many troops from one faction were incorporated into the South African Defense Force as their South African 32 Battalion.The first encounter between South African Defense Force and Cuban troops was south of Benguela and the Cubans were unable to stop the SADF troops. After the SADF inflicted a series of defeats on the FAPLA/Cuban forces, they retreated and regrouped to an old airstrip called Cuito Cuanavale.
Battle
FAPLA advance on Mavinga
As part of the MPLA government of Angola's fight for control, they launched a campaign to subdue UNITA forces in their stronghold cities of Mavinga and Jamba in the south east of the country. Under Soviet generals it was decided to launch an attack from Cuito Cuanavale.In August of 1987 the 21st, 25th (both light infantry), 47th (armoured) and the 59th (mechanized) brigades (some source also include the 16th brigade) of FAPLA under Soviet/Cuban command departed from the city Cuito Cuanavale in the Cuando Cubango province of south east Angola. The received air support from the large airbase at Menongue (including MiG 23 deployed in a ground attack role).
South African reaction
The South African government's strategic concern was to keep UNITA in control of the regions bordering Namibia in order to prevent that MPLA alligned SWAPO from easily launching attacks against South African controlled Namibia, because FAPLA provided SWAPO protection and military assistance. This strategy was in fact the driving force for South Africa's involvement in the region in what they termed the South African Border War.In December of 1987 the South African government responded by launching a series of military operations in conjunction with UNITA forces (in a supporting role), starting with Operation Modular. This operation succeeded in stopping the FAPLA/Cuban advance and they retreated back to Cuito Cuanavale.
Neto in a desperate act, asked for more support from Cuba. Castro agreed and decided to send, in what was called "Maniobra XXXI Aniversario de las FAR" hundreds of tanks, artillery, AA guns, airplanes and almost 50,000 men. Since Cuba didn't have the capacity for making this great logistical effort, the USSR decided to help the Cubans and support them with ships and transporting. The first Cuban help arrived to Cuito Cuanavale on December 5. It was a few hundred Cubans that helped to reinforce the town, pretty soon Cubans arrived to give assistance to FAPLA officers.
FAPLA retreat
The South African and UNITA forces were now the protagonists and launched Operation Hooper attacking the FAPLA forces as they retreated towards Cuito Cuanavale. These actions spanned January and February of 1988 and almost immediately followed the preceding Operation Modular. The South African advance was halted 22 km east of Cuito Cuanavale at the Tumpo river by FAPLA forces who set up positions heavily protected by minefields. Even though the South Africans could not advance further they inflicted heavy casualties on the FAPLA forces and managed to secure tactically important Chambinga Heights.Attack on Cuito Cuanavale
The final phase of this campaign was centred on the city itself as the South Africans continued pursuing their overall objective (Operation Packer) of driving the FAPLA forces west of the Cuito river. They attacked the FAPLA forces in and around Cuito Cuanavale using 155 mm artillery bombardments from the surrounding high grounds of the Chambinga Heights.Outcome
The South African or UNITA forces never captured the city of Cuito Cuanavale and maintained this was never their objective to capture or occupy the city. Many observers agree that they succeeded in their original goal as they clearly halted the original advance of FAPLA forces from Cuito Cuanavale and also inflicted heavy casualties and it would not have made political or military sense for them to occupy a city deep in Angola far from their own controlled territory. The Cuban and FAPLA forces, however, take the failure of the South Africans to capture the city as a victory.Quotes
"The people's armed forces for the liberation of Angola have not been able either, even with the help of the Cubans, to decisively defeat the enemy and drive him out of the territory or the country. The result, frankly speaking, was an impasse."; M. Ponoromov; Krarnaya Zvezda Magazine; May, 20, 1988.
"If defeat for South Africa meant the loss of 31 men, three tanks, five armoured vehicles and three aircraft, then we'd lost. If victory for FAPLA and the Cubans meant the loss of 4600 men, 94 tanks, 100 armoured vehicles, 9 aircraft and other Soviet equipment valued at more than a billion rand, then they'd won.", Colonel Dean Ferreira, CDR SADF in Angola; Paratus (SADF Magazine), March, 1989, p.14.
"During the course of the fighting FAPLA suffered one of the worst defeats to befall an army since the WWII. The SADF (Operation Modular) intervention began modestly, as UNITA attempted to stiffen its resistance to the invaders in Cuando Cubango, in August, and picked up through September as South African artillery repelled two attempts by FAPLA to cross the Lomba River. Finally, South African mechanized forces intervened to annihiliate one of the FAPLA task forces in battles on 3-4 October. This defeat was followed by the FAPLA withdrawal toward Cuito Cuanavale, which was put under siege by UNITA and bombarded by South Africans (Operations "Hooper" and "Packer"). At the same time UNITA made considerable gains in the central plateau area and on the CFB, most of which were later regained by FAPLA at great cost. Frustrated in attempts to remedy the situation in the centre and east, FAPLA and the Cubans redeployed forces in south-western Angola to the Namibian border, where they sparred with the SADF until being decisively checked on 26-27 June at Techipa in Cunene province. Following this battle, the Cubans were convinced that further military confrontation with the SADF would not succeed, but launched a propaganda and diplomatic campaign to cover their setbacks and cover their losses. They also apparently decided to leave the MPLA to its fate, accepting shortly thereafter the linkage proposed by the US that led to Namibian independence in return for Cuban troop withdrawal from Angola.", Continent Ablaze; The Insurgency Wars in Africa, 1960 to the Present, 1998, ISBN 1-85409-128-X, John W. Turner
References
- Nortje, P. 32 Battalion, Struik, 2004. ISBN 1868729141
- Steenkamp, W. South Africa's border war, 1966-1989, Gibraltar: Ashanti Pub., 1989. ISBN 0620139676
- Stiff, P. The Covert War: Koevoet Operations in Namibia 1979-1989, Galago Publishing Pty Ltd, 2000. ISBN 1919854037
External links
- [The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale]
- ↑ [Angola National Security]
- ↑ [Aquella noche que Agostino Neto proclamó la independencia.]
- ↑ Neto, Agostinho (1975), [Cuba - Angola letters, 1975], Retreived May 8, 2006.
- ↑ [Angola and Southwest Africa: A Forgotten War (1975-89.]
- ↑ [Aid to UNITA - Operations MODULAR, HOOPER and PACKER]
- ↑ [Operations Modular and Hooper 1987-88]
- ↑ [7th South African Infantry Battalion and Cuito Cuanavale]
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