Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1407425
Kabarebe's forces fall back to Kinshasa's suburbs, hiding in churches and among buildings made out of bricks. This, ho- wever, does not protect them from the ZDF's bombing raids. Collateral damage is significant, around 300 Congolese civi- lians die as well. OUTCOME On August 30th Kabarebe decided to stop the offensive in Kinshasa and operations in the western part of Congo, focusing on the fighting in the remaining portions of the country. He lets the 15,000 rebels go home. They switched sides again, most of them coming back to serve in the Armed Forces of Congo. 3,000 Rwandan and Ugandan soldiers go to North Angola, through the jungle, using ingenious forms of camouflage and infil- tration methods. The Ugandan unit occu- pying the Inga dam goes the same way, similarly. After around a month, all of the above troops reach Maquela do Zombo, a small town in the UNITA-controlled area. They build a 1,800 meters long runway in the jungle, to receive support and sup- plies, waiting for the resumption of the campaign. They receive ammunition and food. However, Kabarebe changes his strategy in Congo and decides to eva- cuate the forces above to Rwanda. In December 1998, conducting more than 30 night sorties, two aircraft belonging to Viktor But evacuated all of the troops to Goma. The Battle of Kinshasa, and Operation Kitona, even though bound to be successful, ended up as they began - with a major airlift operation, and with the Rwandan and Ugandan soldiers com- manded by James Kabarebe being on the move. They covered a long distance. All of that happened in Africa, and it was done by states without a strategic airlift capacity, but with a commander capable of thinking multilaterally, and outside the box. ANALYSIS