Word: kolwezi
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Some witnesses of the Kolwezi attack reported the presence of Spanish-speaking observers who might have been Cubans. Jose Gomes Jardim, a Portuguese resident of Kolwezi, said he had seen and heard four black men and one white speaking Spanish during the assault. "One of them wanted to kill my family," Jardim said later, "but a Katangese commander said, 'No, he is Portuguese. Don't kill him.' Whether they were Cubans or not I do not know...
...Tigers first surrounded the city, then struck at 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning, before much of Kolwezi was awake. Although there had been rumors in Shaba for 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...
Several days after the fighting ended, one legionnaire patrol came across a group of 20 hysterical women and children on the outskirts of Kolwezi. Near by lay the bodies of their men, killed by the retreating rebels...
...outset, said refugees from Kolwezi, the rebels appeared to be tough and well regimented; they also knew their business. Harold Amstutz, of Portsmouth, Va., a pilot for the American Methodist mission in the city, radioed news of the invasion on the first day of the attack. The next time he tried to broadcast from his house, guerrillas swarmed through the neighborhood, banging on doors and shouting "Missionary! Missionary!" in an effort to locate Amstutz and his radio. Said the pilot: "They must have had good equipment, including a direction finder, to pick up my transmission that quickly...
Belgium had agreed to help out Mobutu for humanitarian reasons. Concentrating on the rescue mission, Brussels' 1,300 red-bereted paratroopers 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...