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 Post subject: Re: are we at war(DRC)
PostPosted: 29 Aug 2014, 07:31 
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The phrase "Lions led by donkeys" comes to mind. (Google it)


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PostPosted: 29 Aug 2014, 15:21 
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koffiepit wrote:

Reading that Beeld article, excuse my Afrikaans, do I understand correctly that Ultimate Heli came up with R13 million, and not threw a tender process. When they went threw a tender process, they selected Y&P Logistics at R15 million???
Does this character think it is more important to follow procedure when the boiler is about to blow, or is there something in it for him?

I can see why out troops need a union, to try and protect them from these donkeys.
These donkeys should be in the battle battle field with out troops so they get the pressure of being vulnerable.

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Company-that-failed-SA-troops-gets-91-tenders-report-20140829


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 Post subject: Re: are we at war(DRC)
PostPosted: 26 Oct 2014, 11:18 
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Worrying evolution among the ADF rebels: IEDs!
http://www.aafonline.co.za/column/erika-gibson-column-back-landmine-warfare


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 Post subject: Re: are we at war(DRC)
PostPosted: 29 Oct 2014, 18:15 
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Glad to see the army piced up on the threat before we started to suffer losses and that they actualy did tests and every thing.


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 Post subject: Re: are we at war(DRC)
PostPosted: 30 Oct 2014, 08:58 
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This is bad. Expect to start seeing more casualties :(


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 Post subject: Re: are we at war(DRC)
PostPosted: 10 Nov 2014, 10:46 
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9 November 2014: News24

Quote:
Military bosses blamed for SA soldiers deaths in CAR

Operational commanders have painted a picture of chaos around the mission in the Central African Republic that claimed the lives of 15 South African soldiers - putting the blame squarely on the shoulders of the military’s top brass.

According to the Sunday Times, logistical blunders and feuding among military bosses led to South Africa’s ‘Mogadishu’ in March last year.

During three days of heavy fighting, 13 SA soldiers died and 27 were wounded. Two of the wounded died later.

However, the military has never revealed before that all the deaths happened in a single ambush on 23 March last year when about 100 paratroopers were being transported in open vehicles through rebel territory.

Details came to light after interviews were conducted with survivors during a probe into the incident.

The newspaper reports that field commanders had pleaded for armoured personnel carriers two months before the ambush, that they had asked for sniper rifles, Rooivalk attack helicopters, Oryx transport helicopters and a reconnaissance aircraft - none of which were supplied.

Troops painted a picture of chaotic supply of weapons and equipment while dual reporting lines contributed to the logistical chaos while force commander Colonel William Dixon gave a horrific description of the lead up to the final assault that claimed the lives of the South Africans.

200 fought off 3 000 rebels

At the time, Reuters reported that about 200 South African soldiers fought off 3 000 rebels in the assault and the battle lasted between 13 and 18 hours.

Shoke says the rebels eventually came with a white flag and negotiated surrender.

South Africa deployed 200 soldiers to Central Africa in January to support the poorly trained, ill-equipped government troops following an offensive launched by the Seleka rebel coalition in early December.

"Our soldiers paid the ultimate price in the service of their country.... we honour them," said President Jacob Zuma at the time.

"Just over 200 of our soldiers fought bandits who wanted to cause harm... but the actions of these bandits would not deter us from our mission of peace and security," said Zuma.

At the time, Sapa reported that the SANDF had become a target for reportedly helping CAR President Francois Bozize flee the country into the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

According to the report, top structures were warned by senior SANDF officers that the CAR mission amounted to "suicide".

SA Air Force aircraft were also put on standby but due to financial constraints the Gripens were not armed with weapons with an attack capacity.

SANDF soldiers reportedly struggled on the ground due to lack of logistics and air support.

Soldiers had to ask French parachutists for essential equipment, with only one doctor present with a backpack for medical support.

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 Post subject: Re: are we at war(DRC)
PostPosted: 11 Nov 2014, 13:03 
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Dean wrote:
9 November 2014: News24

Quote:
Military bosses blamed for SA soldiers deaths in CAR

Operational commanders have painted a picture of chaos around the mission in the Central African Republic that claimed the lives of 15 South African soldiers - putting the blame squarely on the shoulders of the military’s top brass.

According to the Sunday Times, logistical blunders and feuding among military bosses led to South Africa’s ‘Mogadishu’ in March last year.

...

However, the military has never revealed before that all the deaths happened in a single ambush on 23 March last year when about 100 paratroopers were being transported in open vehicles through rebel territory.

...

The newspaper reports that field commanders had pleaded for armoured personnel carriers two months before the ambush, that they had asked for sniper rifles, Rooivalk attack helicopters, Oryx transport helicopters and a reconnaissance aircraft - none of which were supplied.

Troops painted a picture of chaotic supply of weapons and equipment while dual reporting lines contributed to the logistical chaos while force commander Colonel William Dixon gave a horrific description of the lead up to the final assault that claimed the lives of the South Africans.

...

SA Air Force aircraft were also put on standby but due to financial constraints the Gripens were not armed with weapons with an attack capacity.

SANDF soldiers reportedly struggled on the ground due to lack of logistics and air support.

Soldiers had to ask French parachutists for essential equipment, with only one doctor present with a backpack for medical support.


Soldiers die for a lack of equipment but there is money for Solly Shoke to fly 1st class.

The general decay in leadership of our defence force is plain for everyone to see. The above report showed that even the current equipment cannot be employed as intended due to a lack of money. The lives of our soldiers seems to not bother their leaders enough to shake up the powers that be for funds to execute their African Peace Projects in the safest way possible for the soldiers on the ground.

The national budget is in a dire situation too and I do not see leeway for any significant improvement as far as equipment is concerned.

I must actually get off this forum because the news here just continuous to disappoint me, to put it mildly.

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 Post subject: Re: are we at war(DRC)
PostPosted: 06 Jan 2015, 09:40 
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Interesting article from Simon Allison from Daily Maverick:

Quote:
Will South Africa really go to war in the DRC again?

Simon Allison


05 Jan 2015 10:48 (South Africa)


In the DRC, South African troops find themselves in the middle of a nasty, intractable dispute between the Congolese government and the all-too-real ghosts of Rwanda’s genocidal past. SIMON ALLISON examines the likelihood of our soldiers entering the fray.


For South Africans, the political problems in the Democratic Republic of Congo may seem very far away and not particularly relevant. We have enough political problems of our own, don’t we?

That may be true, but it doesn’t mean our ambitious diplomats and desperate-for-a-legacy President haven’t got involved further afield, most notably in the DRC. South African soldiers are currently in the DRC as peacekeepers, with a mandate to flush out rebels of all stripes in the eastern part of the country.

Peacekeepers with teeth, that is. South Africa, along with Tanzania, provides the bulk of the United Nations’ pioneering Force Intervention Brigade (FIB), which is allowed to actively hunt down rebels instead of just preventing attacks.

The FIB passed its first test with flying colours, and South African troops acquitted themselves well, in smashing the M23 movement in 2013, with help from the Congolese army. So far, so good – but M23 was just one of a number of rebel groups operating in the area.

Next on the target list is the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), formed by the genocidaires who escaped justice in Rwanda in 1994 and a constant menace to both the DRC and Rwanda ever since.

Before attacking, the FIB and the DRC government gave the rebels a chance to surrender, telling them that they had six months to hand over themselves and their weapons – or else. No one really expected the ultimatum to work, and sure enough the 2 January 2015 deadline came and went.

It did not pass wholly unobserved. A little over 300 rebels gave themselves up, representing a small chunk of the FDLR’s fighting force (if that’s what they were – many who surrendered were injured or unfit). An estimated 1,200-1,700 are still active.

So what happens now? Will South African troops once again be risking their lives on the battlefields of central Africa?

The answer to this question will be decided at a meeting in late January of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region, which will be attended by all the relevant heads of state, including South Africa’s Jacob Zuma, the DRC’s Joseph Kabila, Tanzania’s Jakaya Kikwete and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame. A tangled mess of political currents means that their decision is far from straightforward.

“It’s not really a military problem, it’s more a political problem than a military problem,” observed Thierry Vircoulon, Central Africa Project Director for the International Crisis Group. “The FDLR is a ball game between Tanzania, South Africa, Kinshasa and Rwanda.”

The DRC, naturally, is pushing hard for a military offensive – even though, it should be noted, the FDLR is not a direct challenge to Kabila’s authority in the same way that M23 was. Kabila knows that his soldiers can’t defeat the FDLR on their own, and is keen to repeat the success achieved against M23, which greatly strengthened his position domestically.

So too is Rwanda, which is desperate to tie up one of the last loose ends remaining from the 1994 genocide. It sees the FDLR as an existential threat to the new, modern state that Kagame has so carefully created, and wants them gone.

Tanzania, on the other hand, is reluctant. Kikwete and Kagame dislike each other, and Tanzania is unwilling to risk its men against an enemy which doesn’t threaten their own national security. This is unlike the offensive against M23, where the rebels were allegedly operating with strong Rwandan support. In that case, Tanzania was happy to halt Rwandan expansionism in the area.

South Africa’s position is more ambiguous. There is no direct national security threat in the area, although we certainly do have interests there (not least of are presidential nephew Khulubuse Zuma’s natural resource assets). And South Africa has worked very hard to build a good relationship with the DRC, eyeing its extensive mineral assets and massive potential for hydroelectric power in the shape of the Grand Inga Dam.

But South Africa also has other military engagements on the horizon, and will be wary of the huge cost of these types of missions. In particular, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) will be looking to conserve resources before the launch of President Zuma’s flagship new continental military response force, the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crises, due to launch this year.

Complicating things even further is that if the FIB is to act, it must do so soon. Time is running short. “The FIB mandate expires in March this year, meaning any offensive would have to be finished up in three months, barring a mandate renewal by the UN, which is not something commanders can bank on now,” explained John Stupart, editor of the African Defence Review. “It took five months to defeat M23. Doing the same to the FDLR in three, possibly without Tanzanian support, makes very little sense.”

This may just be one fight too far for the over-stretched SANDF. DM


http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2015-01-05-will-south-africa-really-go-to-war-in-the-drc-again/#.VKuPSHkaLGI


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 Post subject: Re: are we at war(DRC)
PostPosted: 06 Jan 2015, 11:33 
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Martin Kobler briefed the UN Security Council yesterday on preparations for imminent operations against the FDLR. From the New York Times:
Quote:
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo and the Congolese army will launch a military offensive against a rebel group that failed to surrender by a Jan. 2 deadline set by two regional groups, the United Nations said Monday.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said both forces are preparing for the operation against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, known as the FDLR, which was formed by extremist Rwandan Hutus who took part in the 1994 genocide and then fled across the border into Congo.

He said the Congolese army and the U.N. mission, known as MONUSCO, have developed a joint military plan for the operation and MONUSCO has already prepositioned its troops and equipment.

Dujarric said the top U.N. envoy in Congo, Martin Kobler, updated the Security Council by videoconference Monday morning on the FDLR and the security situation in the country. He did not say when the military offensive will begin.


http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/01/05/world/africa/ap-un-united-nations-congo-rebels.html

EDIT [Update]: The SADC heads of state summit on the issue has just been brought forward for next week in Luanda. Guess 5SAI will finally see action after all.


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 Post subject: Re: are we at war(DRC)
PostPosted: 15 Jan 2015, 08:26 
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So was this Mapisa-Nqakula on a sales pitch to Tz, or the other way round? Either way looks like the Rooivalks may be back in action soon.

Yesterday's news from Reuters via: http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Tanzania-ready-to-take-on-DRC-rebels-Kikwete-20150114


Quote:

Tanzania ready to take on DRC rebels - Kikwete

2015-01-14 16:17

Dar es Salaam - Tanzania is ready to take on Rwandan rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), President Jakaya Kikwete said, suggesting a joint offensive with the UN-backed, South African forces is imminent.

In a statement issued late on Tuesday after talks with South African Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, Kikwete dismissed talk he was reluctant to send in troops against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).

The United Nations Security Council backed plans a week ago for a 3 000-strong South African, Tanzanian and Malawian intervention force to begin military operations against the guerrilla group, which has been at the heart of years of conflict in central Africa's Great Lakes.

"There are people who pretend to read Tanzania's mind," Kikwete said.


"They claim that Tanzania has no intention of taking on rebel groups in the DRC. These are bizarre people because Tanzania, like South Africa and Malawi, has troops in the DRC with a firm United Nations mandate."

Neutralisation of negative forces

South African President Jacob Zuma was in Luanda on Wednesday for talks with his Angolan counterpart, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, that are expected to focus on security in eastern DRC, home to an estimated 1 400 seasoned FDLR guerrillas.

The militia, which includes ethnic Hutu soldiers responsible for carrying out Rwanda's 1994 genocide, failed to meet a January deadline to disarm and surrender.

South Africa's foreign ministry did not comment on Zuma's discussions. But in a statement after the UN Security Council backed military action, Pretoria said it was committed to the "neutralisation of negative forces in the eastern DRC".

The United Nations has been under pressure to take out remaining guerrilla movements in eastern DRC after the intervention force defeated a 5 000-strong force of M23 rebels in 2013.

However, its Office for the Co-ordiation for Humanitarian Affairs said the offensive being planned with the assistance of Congolese government troops would affect hundreds of thousands of civilians.

Earlier this month, the UN and Congolese forces launched strikes against remnants of a smaller Burundian rebel group that a diplomat said was aimed at clearing the way for an offensive against the FDLR.

- Reuters


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 Post subject: Re: are we at war(DRC)
PostPosted: 19 Jan 2015, 14:03 
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Photo du Jour du 19 Janvier 2015

A peacekeeper rappels from a helicopter during a training exercise. Photo MONUSCO/Force
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 Post subject: Re: are we at war(DRC)
PostPosted: 12 Feb 2015, 08:43 
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http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2015-02-12-sa-troops-stand-down-as-un-suspends-drc-mission/#.VNxJLnkaLGI

Quote:
SA troops stand down as UN suspends DRC mission
Simon Allison

12 Feb 2015 12:48 (South Africa)


The United Nations has halted a planned offensive against rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, citing its unwillingness to work with dodgy Congolese generals. This is a respite for South African troops in the area, who would have led the charge, but gives under-fire Congolese President Joseph Kabila yet another headache. By SIMON ALLISON.


On Tuesday, the United Nations suspended its support for a military operation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo designed to drive out rebels from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).

The operation was supposed to complement a Congolese army offensive against the same rebels, but the United Nations refused to work with two of the Congolese generals in charge while unresolved war crimes allegations hang over their heads.

“The UN mission in the DRC has raised concerns linking two [Congolese army] generals to human rights violations, and therefore we have paused our support to [the Congolese army] on anti-FDLR operations,” a UN official told AFP. “We intend to fully support the FDLR operations as soon as the outstanding issues regarding command of the operations are resolved.”

This news has immediate implications for the 1,000-odd South African National Defence Force soldiers who are stationed in the eastern DRC. The South African contingent is part of the Force Intervention Brigade, a special unit of the UN mission that is authorised to go on the offensive against rebel groups. This is a break from peacekeeping tradition, and something of an experiment for the UN. So far, it seems to have worked, with the FIB – composed of South African, Tanzanian and Malawian troops – proving instrumental in the dismantling of the M23 rebel group in the same area in 2013.

The FIB would have led the charge against the FDLR too, and may still. For now, though, the unit has been stood down, and the South African troops with it. A SANDF spokesperson told the Daily Maverick that it has no quarrel with the UN decision. “We are a troop contributing country to the UN, so it’s their operation, their decision, and we will fall in line with them,” said Captain Jaco Theunissen. In fact, the SANDF might be grateful for the respite as it scrambles to prepare for the launch of President Zuma’s new continental intervention brigade, the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crises.

To resume operations, the UN is demanding that the Congolese government remove both tainted generals from command until the accusations against them are resolved. This may not happen any time soon, if the government’s public stance is anything to go by.

“For us, we would only replace someone in the [army high] command if that person had been convicted by our military courts. Yet, no such thing has happened,” said government spokesperson Lambert Mende, bristling at the perceived slight to the DRC’s sovereignty. Mende said that, in the UN’s absence, the government had decided to go it alone, launching its own independent operations.

According to the BBC’s Maude Julien, the reality on the ground is somewhat different. Reporting from a Congolese army base near rebel territory, she says that Congolese soldiers had yet to receive any orders to attack and instead were entertaining themselves with shots of a local home brew. This seems symptomatic of what is a disorganised, dysfunctional fighting force, and highlights the need for UN involvement if any serious progress is to be made against the rebels.

For Congolese President Joseph Kabila, the UN decision comes at a particularly delicate time. With plenty of problems closer to home, he’d prefer to avoid complications in the country’s remote eastern regions.

As author and DRC expert Jason Stearns observed from Kinshasa: “…in the embassies and upscale restaurants of the capital, the buzz was all about political wrangling among elites ahead of elections still two years away. The populist governor of mining-rich Katanga had just given a fiery speech challenging President Joseph Kabila, who appears to be trying to illegally extend his presidential mandate. Several weeks later, police broke up widespread protests in Kinshasa with live bullets and tear gas as the populations protested a controversial electoral law. The war in the distant and mountainous east seemed a faint murmur.”

Kabila is manoeuvring ahead of the presidential elections in 2016, which he is not constitutionally entitled to participate in – not yet, anyway. Opponents are worried that he’ll try and amend the constitution in his favour, or find a pretext on which to delay the vote (doubtless he’ll be watching closely what happens in Nigeria, where the presidential election has been delayed by six weeks on security grounds). His allies are worried about who will succeed the president, and are making power plays of their own.

The situation is unstable and potentially volatile. Already 42 people have been killed in protests (according to some estimates), while more than 300 have been detained.

All this adds up to good news for the FDLR. With the UN halting its operations, and Kabila distracted, the rebels have somehow earned themselves a stay of execution. DM



Plus this from the comments page:
Quote:
Gilo • an hour ago
Well the UN showed that Tanzania is a financial and political supporter of the FDLR, Tanzanian Intelligence hosted meetings of FDLR commanding officials and money is regularly sent to the FDLR from Tanzania, South Africa is at odds with Rwanda and is allied with Tanzania and DRC, that is the reason they attacked M23 so ferociously but are now so timid when it comes to the FDLR, there wont be any attack on the FDLR anytime soon. They can try to destabilize Rwanda all they want, it wont amount to much except showing their true colors to the world and meanwhile who bears the brunt of the FDLR exactions, the Congolese people.


Does this mean the troops and Rooivalks are on their way home?


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 Post subject: Re: are we at war(DRC)
PostPosted: 12 Feb 2015, 11:36 
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No. There mandated has not ended. They just not joining DRC in there up coming operastion.


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 Post subject: Re: are we at war(DRC)
PostPosted: 23 Apr 2015, 10:21 
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VEUILLEZ TROUVER CI-JOINT LA PHOTO DU JEUDI 23 AVRIL 2015

2nd April 2015. Top of Mount Nyamulagira - Virunga Park - North Kivu – DR Congo. MONUSCO helicopter picks up two volcanologists of Goma Observatory who came to take samples and monitor the Volcano’s activities. Photo MONUSCO/Abel Kavanagh
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 Post subject: Re: are we at war(DRC)
PostPosted: 23 Apr 2015, 10:44 
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Anybody knows what unit is replacing 5SAI?


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