Shaba invasions

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Were two invasions of the Congolese province of Shaba (now Katanga) by rebels from the Congolese National Liberation Front (FNLC) located in Angola. The aim of the invasion was the secession of the province from Congo.

Chronology

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1. Shaba I

Was a conflict in Zaire's Shaba (Katanga) Province. The conflict began when the Front for the National Liberation of the Congo (FNLC) crossed the border into Shaba from Angola.

March 1977: The FNLC progressed into Katanga. In the battle in Kasaji, the FAZ killed 15 of the FNLC soldiers and lost 4 of its own.

March 1977: On March 25, the Front for the National Liberation of the Congo abandoned Mutshatsha.

April 1977: The pro-government alliance of Zaire recaptured Mutshatsha.

May 1977: The government of Zaire announced that Dilolo had been captured. It said that 100 rebels were killed in simultaneous attacks at Kapanga and Sandoa. The war was declared over.

March 1977: The Front for the National Liberation of the Congo (FNLC), a group of about 2,000 Katangan Congolese soldiers who were veterans of the Congo Crisis, the Angolan War of Independence, and the Angolan Civil War, crossed the border into Shaba from Angola.

2. Shaba II

Was a brief conflict fought in the Zairean province of Shaba. The conflict broke out on 11 May 1978 after 6,500 rebels from the Congolese National Liberation Front (FNLC), a Katangese separatist militia, crossed the border from Angola into Zaire in an attempt to achieve the province's secession from the Zairian regime.

May 1978: On May 11 1978 after 6,500 rebels from the Congolese National Liberation Front (FNLC), a Katangese separatist militia, crossed the border from Angola into Zaire in an attempt to achieve the province's secession from the Zairian regime of Mobutu Sese Seko. The FNLC captured the important mining town of Kolwezi.

July 1978: The FNLC retreated to Zambia and back to Angola, vowing to return.