Word: french
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...weeks that trouble was imminent, the city was defended by no more than 300 Zairian troops. Recalled Belgian Civil Engineer Freddy Wauters, 39: "At first I thought it was soldiers letting off a bit of steam." But then the rebels appeared and demanded to know whether Wauters was French. They were looking, as it turned out, for Moroccan and French "mercenaries" who had thrown back the F.N.L.C. last year. Several Libyans working in Kolwezi were executed because rebels mistook them for Moroccans...
...cleared the key routes into Kolwezi, set up an emergency medical-aid station at the city's airport, and began evacuating refugees. The fighting was done by 600 legionnaires, who encircled Kolwezi, took up positions on the main roads, and then launched foot patrols inside the city. The French troops encountered an ephemeral enemy that drifted away rather than risk a pitched battle. There were, however, a few fierce skirmishes, in which the legion lost four...
...past. Not since 1970, when a group of commandos put down a modest rebellion in the African Republic of Chad, had the Foreign Legion seen action in the field. Nowadays, most legionnaires spend their time on such mundane tasks as putting out forest fires in Corsica, constructing roads in French Guiana and guarding French nuclear testing sites in Tahiti...
...whose members have been trained for counterterror and commando-type operations. The Second Parachute Regiment, for example, which recaptured Kolwezi, is expert in night combat, alpine warfare, urban cleanup operations, amphibious landings, demolition and sabotage. The average age of recruits: 22. Virtually all the legion's officers are French. Technically, French nationals are forbidden to enlist in the legion, but many do, pretending to be Belgians, Swiss or Canadians. Although the new legion tries hard to exclude professional thugs and officially refuses to accept men accused of major crimes, it still offers its recruits a new identity that protects...
After their first five years of service, foreigners are eligible for French citizenship...