Katangese Gendarmerie

rdf:langString Katangese Gendarmerie

rdf:langString Katangese Gendarmerie

rdf:langString Forces Armées Katangaises

rdf:langString Katangese Gendarmerie

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rdf:langString right

rdf:langString Member of the Gendarmerie in 1961

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rdf:langString Forces Armées Katangaises

rdf:langString "We cannot by any means support a political and military adventure in Katanga without it being useful to our own policy. [...] [W]ithout this we will be in difficulty in our own fight against subversion." - PIDE statement, June 1968

rdf:langString “During the entire month of August, a veritable race against the clock took place with the objective, for Tshombe and his advisers, of building a more or less efficient Katangan gendarmery before the eventual withdrawal of the Belgian troops.” Belgian historian Jules Gérard-Libois

rdf:langString "There would have been no fighting at all [in Katanga] if the Katangese Gendarmerie had not made it unavoidable by indulging in senseless firing for several days."

rdf:langString "Certainly every reasonable step should be taken to prevent the gendarmerie from becoming a lawless and undisciplined military organization." United States Officer in Charge of U.N. Congo Affairs Charles S. Whitehouse

rdf:langString The Katangese Gendarmerie (French: Gendarmerie Katangaise), officially the Katangese Armed Forces (French: Forces Armées Katangaises), was the paramilitary force of the unrecognized State of Katanga in Central Africa from 1960 to 1963. The forces were formed upon the secession of Katanga from the Republic of the Congo with help from Belgian soldiers and former officers of the Force Publique. Belgian troops also provided much of the early training for the Gendarmerie, which was mainly composed of Katangese but largely led by Belgians and later European mercenaries. Throughout the existence of the State of Katanga, the gendarmes sporadically fought various tribes and the Armée Nationale Congolaise (ANC). In February 1961 the Gendarmerie initiated a series of operations aimed at suppressing anti-secessionist rebels of the Association Générale des Baluba du Katanga (BALUBAKAT) in North Katanga. The campaign was largely successful, but the fighting led to atrocities and gendarmes were halted by forces of the United Nations Operation in the Congo (ONUC) during the Battle of Kabalo in April 1961. ONUC then initiated efforts to remove foreign mercenaries from the Gendarmerie, and launched Operation Rum Punch to arrest them in August 1961. They came into conflict with ONUC three times after, in Operation Morthor (September 1961), Operation UNOKAT (December 1961), and Operation Grandslam (December 1962). Operation Grandslam marked the end of the Katangese secession in January 1963. After the secession, many gendarmes returned to civilian life or were integrated with the ANC. However, around 8,000 refused to, and many kept their arms and roamed North Rhodesia, Angola and Katanga. Many crossed the Congo border into Angola, where Portuguese colonial authorities assisted and trained them. They were involved in several mutinies and attempted invasions of the Congo, most notably the Stanleyville mutinies in 1966 and 1967. After 1967, around 2,500 gendarmes were present in Angola, where they were reorganized as the Congolese National Liberation Front (FLNC) and fought in the Angolan War of Independence on the side of the Portuguese government against the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA) and União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola (UNITA). When the war ended in 1975, they fought in the Angolan Civil War against the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA). The FLNC was involved in Shaba I and II, attempted invasions of Katanga. Split into factions after the war, the Tigres emerged and played a decisive role in the First Congo War. There has since been little gendarme presence, but they have emerged as a symbol of secessionist thinking.

rdf:langString Joseph Yav

rdf:langString Secretary of State of National Defense

rdf:langString President Moïse Tshombe

rdf:langString Commander