Henry240:


The fact is, all the beryl we have seen are all in the North-East. Produce a single photo of a beryl in Abuja?


Those beryl's would come with their appropriate accessories. The first batch of 1000 are on evaluation, next set and the more to come would definitely come with scopes as a basic requirement.

ok.... on the Abuja issue... lets leave it out... but please keep us updated when the next batch comes in... it will be interesting to see our SF kitted with that stuff with full accessories...

ukemeramat:
@Henry240... why do you think this BH guys had the audacity to stand the NA? Its because they see the deficiency in their fire power.. why is there so much case of mutiny rocking the army today? same wahala, insufficient and outdated arms and ammunition... ask a regular soldier who is on the battle field to tell you what is their biggest challenge and hear what he tells u

We know we have a terrible deficiency in equipment, however we cannot compare how a militant group operates to a proper army.

Militants throw everything they get into an attack, whether it is a 14.5mm mounted on Pick-up trucks or IED laden goats. The idea is to overwhelm and over-run their target by whatever means, no doctrine.

Let us for instance claim the Nigerian military is properly armed, e.g, NATO standard.

Each out-post cannot be armed with a 14.5mm shilka or a Tank because the military operates on a Doctrine.

-So each squad would be armed appropriately.


- Each section would also be armed

- Each platoon also armed appropriately.

All of these groups would be armed based on the Doctrine with which the Nigerian Army operates.

Only the platoon would have the big guns.
At squad level, troops would only have access to their rifles, grenades, RPG's and radios with which to call in Air-Support and artillery fire. They may not even have access to APC's at squad levels.

Now, this is for a hypothetical armed Nigerian army.


Reality on the ground is, the Nigerian army is neither well funded or well armed. Most of these issues probably have nothing to do with corruption. I'm not saying there is no corruption, but we add too much importance to this corruption thing that we fail to see the bigger picture.

Bigger Picture :

- we tried to purchase arms from Israel, the U.S and South-Africa, but we were consistently blocked. Our plane wasn't also given clearance to fly over Saudi-Arabia.

- the U.S stopped buying our oil, hence we have no money.

- we do not have a Defence industry to support our military. Yes, we make this and that, here and there, but we actually do not have an Industry.

-Tactics is also an issue,

All of these things got nothing to do with corruption.

I have spoken to many soldiers, including those in the line of battle. Truth is, these issues are not necessarily as simple as we would love to believe.

ukemeramat:


ok well said but the bottom line is that that OBJ006 bla bla bla should be upgraded for Christ sake...that stuff is obsolete .. Russians and the Ukrainians have long upgrade theirs...

I agree. The OBJ-006 is obsolete. This isn't in doubt. The T-72 and BVP we also got are obsolete, the Army requires a proper MBT, and anything less than (T-99, OPLOT-M, AL-Khalied, T-90) would be a major dis-service.


The beryl is simply an up-graded AK-47, and instead of wasting money importing Beryl rifles we could have up-graded those the AK here in Nigeria.

The Russians are replacing the AK-74m with the AK-12 ,the AK-103-4 or the A-545.

The Ukrainians are planning on going western, they've started to induct the Tavor-21 into frontline service.



What Nigeria requires is a Defence review, similar to what South-Africa has done. Anything short of that, we would continue complaining about our military, and no miracle would save us.

ukemeramat:


ok.... on the Abuja issue... lets leave it out... but please keep us updated when the next batch comes in... it will be interesting to see our SF kitted with that stuff with full accessories...

It would be nice to see our military properly kitted. President Buhari should order a Defence review. This is the military's only salvation. Anything less is simply patch work.

Even our SBS we like to brag about, do you think even they are properly equipped?

How many times do you see them with a secondary rifle/side arm (shot-gun/9mm), do they carry upto 9 Magazines of ammo, have you ever seen them with a personal role radio, do they carry camel backs, do they have smoke, flash bangs and grenades, do they have proper ballistics eye glasses, any Special forces vehicle, what about proper comms and navigation systems, do they have a breacher, and does he carry the required equipment?

They still lack alot.

@ ukemeramat: these are NA/NA-SF with tavor rifles

OPERATIONAL & BATTLE-FIELD IMAGES.

1st and 2nd pictures shows nigeria army tracked & wheeled APC's.

3rd picture shows a group of BH members fleeing gombe town .

4th picture is a scene where BH bodies are buried after the battle clash .

Henry240:


We know we have a terrible deficiency in equipment, however we cannot compare how a militant group operates to a proper army.

Militants throw everything they get into an attack, whether it is a 14.5mm mounted on Pick-up trucks or IED laden goats. The idea is to overwhelm and over-run their target by whatever means, no doctrine.

Let us for instance claim the Nigerian military is properly armed, e.g, NATO standard.

Each out-post cannot be armed with a 14.5mm shilka or a Tank because the military operates on a Doctrine.

-So each squad would be armed appropriately.


- Each section would also be armed

- Each platoon also armed appropriately.

All of these groups would be armed based on the Doctrine with which the Nigerian Army operates.

Only the platoon would have the big guns.
At squad level, troops would only have access to their rifles, grenades, RPG's and radios with which to call in Air-Support and artillery fire. They may not even have access to APC's at squad levels.

Now, this is for a hypothetical armed Nigerian army.


Reality on the ground is, the Nigerian army is neither well funded or well armed. Most of these issues probably have nothing to do with corruption. I'm not saying there is no corruption, but we add too much importance to this corruption thing that we fail to see the bigger picture.

Bigger Picture :

- we tried to purchase arms from Israel, the U.S and South-Africa, but we were consistently blocked. Our plane wasn't also given clearance to fly over Saudi-Arabia.

- the U.S stopped buying our oil, hence we have no money.

- we do not have a Defence industry to support our military. Yes, we make this and that, here and there, but we actually do not have an Industry.

-Tactics is also an issue,

All of these things got nothing to do with corruption.

I have spoken to many soldiers, including those in the line of battle. Truth is, these issues are not necessarily as simple as we would love to believe.

i understand u very well. your response was concise and without ambiguity. this BH boys are miscreants. they use anti aircraft guns on human beings. the army needs to be tactical and well equipped with adequate fire power. during the niger delta days, u hardly hear of much military or civilian casualties because u re well briefed on your modus operandi before u leave the creeks .
but i still think the problem lies with our military high command. our military budget stands at btwn $2-3 billion. we can do alot with that. collect licence to manufacture this arms here with pure local content and put in $500million into DICON and see what will become of our military... Nigerian service chiefs are ranked among the richest in the world aside the Arabs,Asians and Russians

bidexiii:
@ ukemeramat: these are NA/NA-SF with tavor rifles

these are few. i have not really seen them in battle with that, only the beryl the SF 72 uses. but the moral of SF-72 is something i admire. those guys are so high in spirit and the army needs to build on that momentum. that guy in the 2nd picture, he is still not well kitted. thats not a regular soldier but a commando for speaking out loud.

ukemeramat:


i understand u very well. your response was concise and without ambiguity. this BH boys are miscreants. they use anti aircraft guns on human beings. the army needs to be tactical and well equipped with adequate fire power. during the niger delta days, u hardly hear of much military or civilian casualties because u re well briefed on your modus operandi before u leave the creeks .
but i still think the problem lies with our military high command. our military budget stands at btwn $2-3 billion. we can do alot with that. collect licence to manufacture this arms here with pure local content and put in $500million into DICON and see what will become of our military... Nigerian service chiefs are ranked among the richest in the world aside the Arabs,Asians and Russians

For the BH high caliber technicals; honestly what we really need is a very good communication system and and 24hrs and powerful airforce which we lack for now, I mean the airforce jets/choppers !
Honestly I pray that the NAF deal on the T129 comes to realty or any attack helicopter/highly maneuvable in its class, that can take out enemy technicals from 100's of meters with laser guided rockets these will send fear into the hearts of BH then the army can come and do the job after knocking out enemy technicals.

ukemeramat:


these are few. i have not really seen them in battle with that, only the beryl the SF 72 uses. but the moral of SF-72 is something i admire. those guys are so high in spirit and the army needs to build on that momentum. that guy in the 2nd picture, he is still not well kitted. thats not a regular soldier but a commando for speaking out loud.

Hahaha u r a funny dude until I post like 10 different pictures ? Before you believe NA SF uses tarvor riffles. I don't know if u ar frequent or being following other threads u should av seeing NA SF with tarvor riffles,@ least like 3to 5 different pictures of it ?

ukemeramat:


i understand u very well. your response was concise and without ambiguity. this BH boys are miscreants. they use anti aircraft guns on human beings. the army needs to be tactical and well equipped with adequate fire power. during the niger delta days, u hardly hear of much military or civilian casualties because u re well briefed on your modus operandi before u leave the creeks .
but i still think the problem lies with our military high command. our military budget stands at btwn $2-3 billion. we can do alot with that. collect licence to manufacture this arms here with pure local content and put in $500million into DICON and see what will become of our military... Nigerian service chiefs are ranked among the richest in the world aside the Arabs,Asians and Russians

Boko-Haram members are savages. Nigeria deserves a properly equipped military, however 2-3 billion won't cut it. We need to be spending over 10 billion on our military.


One more thing, what is budgeted for, and what is actually released are 2 different things. This is why i'm always cautious about laying everything as a product of corruption.

Of our budget for 2014, how much was actually released?


Special Report: The Pentagon's doctored ledgers conceal epic waste| Reuters

The Pentagon is the only federal agency that has not complied with a law that requires annual audits of all government departments. That means that the $8.5 trillion in taxpayer money doled out by Congress to the Pentagon since 1996, the first year it was supposed to be audited, has never been accounted for. That sum exceeds the value of China's economic output last year.


The extremely corrupt U.S military hasn't audited it's account since 1996.


Corruption is not a Nigerian problem.

ukemeramat:


these are few. i have not really seen them in battle with that, only the beryl the SF 72 uses. but the moral of SF-72 is something i admire. those guys are so high in spirit and the army needs to build on that momentum. that guy in the 2nd picture, he is still not well kitted. thats not a regular soldier but a commando for speaking out loud.

He is not well kitted at all, he's not even up to the standard of a regular Soldier, not to talk of Special forces.


Nigerian Soldiers do not wear webbing, it is virtually alien to them, and this is supposed to be a basic item an infantry man should have. I'm always left asking, where do they keep their extra Ammo, what about water, knife and grenade.

bidexiii:
OPERATIONAL & BATTLE-FIELD IMAGES.

1st and 2nd pictures shows nigeria army tracked & wheeled APC's.

3rd picture shows a group of BH members fleeing gombe town .

4th picture is a scene where BH bodies are buried after the battle clash .

@Bidexii, so they allow these people to be riding on a major street in the name of running away. Where re they running to- to regroup while the airforce watch them.
Drama!!!!!

cool318:

@Bidexii, so they allow these people to be riding on a major street in the name of running away. Where re they running to- to regroup while the airforce watch them.
Drama!!!!!

Actually d picture was taking by a local who was a insider for the local vigilante group.

And these are the work of drone's to hit fleeing or escaping terrorist and also searching for enemy positions terrorist that r in group like d one in the pictures. it is not wise for our alpha jets or hinds to run after an escaping terrorist it can easily work into a trap, only 3rd generational
Jets can do these kind of jobs with precision ammunition .

RANDOM PICTURES

1st pic is a NA land-rover. And I think its my first sighting since these war against BH.

2nd pic, shows nigeria army boarding a C-130 Hercules en route to maiduguri.

3rd pic is NA rolland air (short range) defense missile system.

4th pic shows soldiers pose with MRLS

NIGERIA NAVY DEEP DIVERS TRAINING

Henry120:


He is not well kitted at all, he's not even up to the standard of a regular Soldier, not to talk of Special forces.


Nigerian Soldiers do not wear webbing, it is virtually alien to them, and this is supposed to be a basic item an infantry man should have. I'm always left asking, where do they keep their extra Ammo, what about water, knife and grenade.

I will advice for DICON to be scrapped immediately. its a disgrace that we have them and still waist dollars to import upgraded AK-47 in the name of polish beryl... cant they just upgarde the obsolete OBJ-006 and save us the stress?

ukemeramat:


I will advice for DICON to be scrapped immediately. its a disgrace that we have them and still waist dollars to import upgraded AK-47 in the name of polish beryl... cant they just upgarde the obsolete OBJ-006 and save us the stress?

Nigeria requires proper private sector participation in defence manufacturing. Our Defence industry can only get salvation if private business men setup proper companies here.

It is this reason why i'm consistently rooting for Proforce Defence and Mekahog to be successful.

Proforce needs to build proper MRAPs, as their current stock of LAPV's don't cut it.

Mekahog on the other hand has a proper APC, the jointly developed IKRI MRAP with DCD. 48 units are currently been assembled at Mekahog's Nigerian plant. My problem is, the vehicle is more South-African than it is Nigerian.

RANDOM PICTURES
1st pic is a soldier loading a shell into a 122 mm howitzer 2A18 (D-30).
2nd pic is a NA 81mm "L16" mortar.
3rd pic is a NORINCO LG4 " 40mm multiple grenade "MGL" launcher.
4th pic is a NORINCO LG3 automatic grenade launcher "AGL" with tripod stand.

COAS VISITS HIS TROOPS IN THE FRONT-LINES. The Chief of Army Staff,Lt. Gen. Kenneth. Minimah, on
Thursday paid an operational and morale boosting visit to
troops on the front line fighting against Boko Haram
terrorists in Borno and Adamawa States.
During the visit, he addressed and encouraged the troops of 7 Division Strike Group and 121 Special Force Battalion that comprised the Armed Forces and Nigerian Army Special
Forces located in Pulka, 26 Task Force Brigade in Gwoza, 28
Task Force Brigade and 174 Battalion in Mubi.
A statement by the Acting Director, Army Public Relations,
Col. Sani Usman, said in Pulka, the Commander, 7 DSG, Lt.
Col. Umar Abubakar and the Commanding Officer of 121 SF Battalion, Lt. Col. Murtala Abdulsalam, briefed the COAS on their respective commands.
It said Minimah commended them for their performances
and thereafter addressed the troops, saying he came to
thank and commend them for their valour, courage and
bravery, “which turned the tide against the Boko Haram
terrorists and their accomplishments thus far.”
“The COAS informed the troops that the President and
indeed the whole nation are proud of them and reiterated
his determined effort to continue to support and encourage
them and enjoined them to maintain the momentum,” the
statement added.
Minimah also urged the soldiers to be more dedicated,
disciplined, professional and continue with the same zeal
and determination till attainment of the set objective of
locating and destroying Boko Haram camps and enclaves.
Apart from recapturing most Boko Haram-held territories
such as Pulka and Gwoza, the troops had also destroyed a
number of the terrorists’ camps in Kirawa and Kinene, as
well as their workshops, training camps and arms stores,
weapons and equipment.
They also recovered a T-55 Battle Tank, 2 Armoured
Personnel Carriers, various calibres of arms and ammunition from Boko Haram.
At the headquarters of 26 Task Force Brigade Gwoza, the
COAS was received and briefed by the Brigade Commander,
Col. Irenuma Irabor, who was accompanied by Lt. Col.
Chidozie Amoha, Garrison Commander of 26 Task Force
Brigade.
The statement quoted the Brigade Commander as saying
that due to the recapture of Gwoza and the presence of the
military, life has gradually been returning to normal in the
area.

bidexiii:
COAS VISITS HIS TROOPS IN THE FRONT-LINES. The Chief of Army Staff,Lt. Gen. Kenneth. Minimah, on
Thursday paid an operational and morale boosting visit to
troops on the front line fighting against Boko Haram
terrorists in Borno and Adamawa States.
During the visit, he addressed and encouraged the troops of 7 Division Strike Group and 121 Special Force Battalion that comprised the Armed Forces and Nigerian Army Special
Forces located in Pulka, 26 Task Force Brigade in Gwoza, 28
Task Force Brigade and 174 Battalion in Mubi.
A statement by the Acting Director, Army Public Relations,
Col. Sani Usman, said in Pulka, the Commander, 7 DSG, Lt.
Col. Umar Abubakar and the Commanding Officer of 121 SF Battalion, Lt. Col. Murtala Abdulsalam, briefed the COAS on their respective commands.
It said Minimah commended them for their performances
and thereafter addressed the troops, saying he came to
thank and commend them for their valour, courage and
bravery, “which turned the tide against the Boko Haram
terrorists and their accomplishments thus far.”
“The COAS informed the troops that the President and
indeed the whole nation are proud of them and reiterated
his determined effort to continue to support and encourage
them and enjoined them to maintain the momentum,” the
statement added.
Minimah also urged the soldiers to be more dedicated,
disciplined, professional and continue with the same zeal
and determination till attainment of the set objective of
locating and destroying Boko Haram camps and enclaves.
Apart from recapturing most Boko Haram-held territories
such as Pulka and Gwoza, the troops had also destroyed a
number of the terrorists’ camps in Kirawa and Kinene, as
well as their workshops, training camps and arms stores,
weapons and equipment.
They also recovered a T-55 Battle Tank, 2 Armoured
Personnel Carriers, various calibres of arms and ammunition from Boko Haram.
At the headquarters of 26 Task Force Brigade Gwoza, the
COAS was received and briefed by the Brigade Commander,
Col. Irenuma Irabor, who was accompanied by Lt. Col.
Chidozie Amoha, Garrison Commander of 26 Task Force
Brigade.
The statement quoted the Brigade Commander as saying
that due to the recapture of Gwoza and the presence of the
military, life has gradually been returning to normal in the
area.

There is an MI 17 in the background

Fynline:


There is an MI 17 in the background

Yeap its one of MI 17 recalled from UN and it as being on sights ever since the BH heat and used for transport for top brass .

NAF OPERATIONAL PICTURES

NA loadout has improved greatly but still lacking that tactical functionality.

Needs pouches for a total maximum of 8 magazines plus 1 already chambered on their rifles. The worst thing is to run out of ammo in battle.

RANDOM PICTURES.

BlackBaron:
NA loadout has improved greatly but still lacking that tactical functionality.

Needs pouches for a total maximum of 8 magazines plus 1 already chambered on their rifles. The worst thing is to run out of ammo in battle.

Yeap that's true mate the worst thing that can happen to a soldier is to run out of ammo or ur riffle jams in rare case scenario with the ak's ?
But I still pounder on NA tactics why they don't carry enough ammo or why magazines are stalked together (mostly 3 mag's) definitely there will be ammo's in the trenches or near by ?
But what in cases where there is no ammo stock's nearby or during cases of last stand how do u survive ?
Honestly I think the top brass as to see to these ,see that soldiers carry enough ammo's @ least let's forget about other accessories for now !

NA ASSET's

THE SOUTH AFRICAN @ WAR IN THE "DRC" - the inside story.
PAGE 1;
A blackout on operations by South African soldiers fighting rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo has left historic battles shrouded in mystery.

A routine drill that turned into war On Wednesday August 28 2013, two old Soviet T55 tanks that were parked outside
the South African base at Munigi hill overlooking Goma roared into life and trundled up the road into enemy-
occupied territory. The South Africans thought nothing of it. For weeks, Congolese soldiers had fired up their T55s to run their engines and reconnoitre rebel movements. That morning, a routine drill turned into war. At 6.15am, the tanks opened fire on M23 positions dug into Triple Towers hill 5km from the base, in an area known as Kibati Heights. Within minutes, a force of 1500 well-trained rebels, armed with mortars, 12-barrel anti-aircraft rocket launchers called Katyushas, a Russian SPG-9 anti-tank weapon mounted on a pick-up truck and assault rifles, returned fire. They overshot the tanks, raining shells on the camp. One landed on the outskirts of Goma, injuring several civilians.
“It caught us totally by surprise. Those guys are not very
accurate with their weapons,” said Captain David Williams,
commander of Alpha Company. A 14.5mm round whizzed through the kitchen while the chef was preparing breakfast. Henceforth, he cooked in battle gear, including helmet. By the end of that morning’s shelling, six South Africans were being treated for shrapnel wounds, some returning to the front within hours.
The 850-strong South African contingent of the new Force
Intervention Brigade, the first UN army given orders to
shoot first and ask questions later, arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between April and June 2013.Most were part of 6 SA Infantry Battalion under the
operational command of Lieutenant-Colonel Altin Gysman,
and included a recce platoon of 36 men. Joining them was
Charlie Company, 144 paratroopers from 44 Parachute
Brigade commanded by Major Victor Vrolik, and 1200
Tanzanian infantry and artillery men. Another 900 Malawians were due to arrive later.
These combat troops, along with Mamba armoured
personnel carriers, 122mm howitzers, 81mm mortars, Oryx
transport helicopters and — belatedly — three hi-tech
Rooivalk attack helicopters, were just what was needed to
bolster the force of Congolese regional commander Major-
General Bahuma Ambamba and the charismatic Colonel
Mamadou Ndala. The colonel died mysteriously in an
ambush months later.
The South Africans deployed two companies of 145 men
each, commanded by Captain Williams and Captain Carl
Fuller, comprising four infantry platoons and recces.
Marksmen from a different detachment were seconded to
each unit to be deployed as snipers. Fuller’s company was
merged with a Tanzanian company to form Task Group
Bravo.
Williams’s Alpha Company controlled the high ground in the east and Gysman and Bahuma controlled the high ground at Moja Mutaho to the west. The South African combat troops in the DRC were trained in jungle warfare by Colonel William Dixon, who had just returned from battling 7000 Seleka rebels with 200 paratroopers and special forces operatives in the Central African Republic.
On August 23, soon after M23 shelled Munigi base, the UN
war machine sprang into action to support a Congolese
army attack. The Battle of Kibati would last almost three
days.


Below is picture of Lieutenant-Colonel Altin Gysman and
Rifleman Asanda Bisha

PAGE 2;

Lieutenant Bubele Zote had a bird’s-eye view of the fight
while providing co-ordinates for mortar and artillery fire.
Attack helicopters pounding M23 positions were initially
ineffective because the rebels had dug themselves in too
deeply.
“Every night convoys would be seen removing the M23 dead from the battlefield,” said Zote. Next came the ground assaults. This was extreme combat terrain. The Route Nationale 2 runs north from Goma parallel to the Rwandan border through a jumble of rolling hills, steep, densely wooded cones separated by grassy plains and rugged fields of razor-sharp rock spewed out by the majestic Nyiragongo volcano. Opportunities for ambushes, sniper hides, concealed machine-gun and mortar nests, command posts and high-lying trenches for small-arms firing positions were legion. Fuller’s Task Group Alpha made several advances in the next two days, sending snipers and Congolese special forces to within 1km of M23 positions to take out strategic targets,including the anti-tank weapon.
Mamadu confirmed that a South African sniper had a major
impact on the battle by killing six M23 officers in one day,
including a spectacular shot at a distance of 2.125km. This is
the sixth-longest confirmed sniper kill in the world. Gysman
described the sniper, who did not want to be identified, as “a very proficient shottist”.
On Thursday, Fuller had a brush with death. He was
directing mortar fire at Triple Towers 2.5km from the south
with the Congolese army closing in from the west. “Then the
M23 picked up my position.”
Shells started raining on the roofs of his Mambas. He
ordered his men inside the vehicles while machine gunners
on their roofs returned fire. He shouted to Tanzanian Major Khatib Mshindo that they should withdraw.
Seconds later, a shell landed between Mshindo’s legs. Fuller
yelled for a medic and was mid-sentence when another shell landed between his legs. Luckily, the soft ground absorbed most of the blast, although the vehicles to his left and right were peppered with shrapnel.
“It was just not my time,” he said. Mshindo was not so lucky. He was evacuated to the base and died of his wounds.
Rifleman Asanda Bisha operated a Mamba machine gun
during the fight. “It was scary when the bombs started
falling,” he said.
He continued to return fire and scan the horizon to select
targets with his binoculars. “You get scared of being shot and you have to shoot back. But there are others in the vehicle you have to protect. ”The final push happened on Friday morning with the Ukrainian helicopters “striking like hell and making a success of it this time”, in Gysman’s words.
Simultaneous pounding by Tanzanian artillery and South
African mortars continued, destroying M23 rations and
weapons caches. When “the target was soft”, Fuller and
Mamadu were sent to storm the hill.
By noon, the Battle of Kibati was over, leaving about 500
M23 rebels dead, bringing to an end democratic South
Africa’s most successful military operation.


Picture of Lieutenant Bubele Zote

PAGE 3;
Captain Reagan Campher was riding in the lead vehicle of a convoy of three Mambas in hot pursuit of a detachment of M23 rebels when the ambush was sprung. That morning, the South African and Tanzanian soldiers of the UN’s Force Intervention Brigade had been put on high alert after receiving reports that a group of 20 to 30 rebels had slipped past their perimeter patrols and were heading towards their base at Kiwanja, about 80km north of Goma. Campher was a machine gun platoon commander deployed with the technical headquarters of the brigade. In early October, South African and Tanzanian troops were secretly flown over the frontline in Oryx helicopters and Ukrainian Mi-26 helicopters big enough to transport two Mambas. They were dropped at the UN base at Kiwanja, a stone’s throw from the M23’s administrative headquarters at Rutshuru. The troops spent two weeks deploying in strategic positions to block rebel escape routes as the Congolese army closed in on Rutshuru from the north, south and east, forcing the M23 to split its forces along three fronts. Because the area was heavily populated, the peacekeepers were prohibited from using artillery and mortars. They claim as a result that no civilians were killed from their operations. On October 27, rebel units trapped west of the UN cordon were trying to join their comrades retreating towards Bunagana on the Ugandan border. Campher found himself pursuing one of those M23 units. Some of the rebels took off their uniforms and fled into Kiwanja and melted into the civilian population. Others surrendered. But a small group continued east up Govender Hill on the road to Rutshuru. The peacekeepers drove three Mambas in staggered formation 50m apart, each transporting 10 soldiers and a machine gunner perched on the roof. They chose a small house as their next checkpoint. “When we got there, a rebel came out of the house spraying bullets at us with an AK47. We engaged on the left but came under fire from the right too, so I ordered my men to move back 200m,” said Campher. As his Mamba raced back down the road, he saw a Tanzanian soldier behind a bougainvillaea. “As soon as I jumped out I came under fire. My members gave covering fire as I ran,” he said. “He was lying on his face, but I found a weak pulse. I called for a medic, but he couldn’t reach us because of the volume of fire, so I dragged him back to the Mamba myself.” Rajab Ahmed Mlima, a Tanzanian special forces lieutenant, died on his way to hospital. Campher cannot explain why he had risked his life in a bid to save Mlima’s. “The good training kicked in,” he said. In such moments, time slows down. He recalls thinking about his family, “about being home”, as bullets whistled past his head. He can still see the beautiful canopy of purple flowers shading Mlima in his dying moments. Within a week, the Congolese and UN intervention brigade forces had driven the M23 rebels from Rutshuru to their last strongholds, the hills of Tzhanzu and Runyoni near Bunagana on the Ugandan border. On November 3, the rebels shelled Bunaganda from Tzhanzu, killing six civilians. The next day, the UN deployed Rooivalk helicopters. Three Rooivalks had arrived in Goma a week earlier. At 5pm on November 4, two Rooivalks fired dozens of rockets at M23 bunkers on Tzhanzu and Runyoni, destroying an anti-aircraft gun. “It was the first ever deployment of the Rooivalks and it was highly successful,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Altin Gysman, officer commanding the 6 SA Infantry Battalion. “We achieved final destruction of M23 by Rooivalk.”
picture of Captain Reagan Campher

PAGE 4

They kept their cool as all hell broke loose in jungle
battle !

They came out of nowhere, charging down the hill firing
wildly, high on banana spirits and wearing war charms they
were convinced could turn bullets into water.
It was 4am, a heavy mist had descended on the camp,
leaving it in pitch darkness. They came in waves from the
south, east and north, firing from 300m, then 80m, then 2m,
yelling in Swahili that they wanted food and weapons. Four
machine guns perched on a hill 200m away kept up a steady
stream of fire.
On April 30, Mai Mai warriors of General Janvier Karayiri’s
Patriotic Alliance for a Free and Sovereign Congo were intent
on overrunning the UN base at Nyiabiondo, Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC), a small town in the mountainous
jungles that rise beyond the fertile plains of Masisi, 70km
west of the provincial capital, Goma.
And the soldiers of 6 SA Infantry Battalion — whose home
base is Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape — were
determined to stop them.
Captain David Williams was in charge of Alpha Company —
145 men equipped with Mamba armoured personnel
carriers, R4 rifles, machine guns, mortars and grenade
launchers. They formed part of the UN’s Force Intervention
Brigade supporting a force of 200 DRC soldiers camped
nearby. Their job was to disarm the Mai Mai rebels
operating in these mountains and kill those who resisted.
Williams had received intelligence the night before that an
attack was planned. His troops were battle-ready and he was
not too concerned.
“Until then, we believed that wherever the FIB is the Mai Mai
will run away,” said Williams.
The rebels had fled from engagements in early April, when
Karayiri’s men had occupied strategic heights west and north
of Nyiabiondo.
At that time, the Force Intervention Brigade had sent 35
vehicles to the area from its base 70km away at Sake, near
Goma. It had been a 10-hour drive on atrocious roads —
and the South Africans had then walked for another eight
hours into the mountains, a company of Congolese soldiers
carrying their heavy weapons and ammunition. Three
Rooivalk attack helicopters were on stand-by at Goma
airport, a mere 10-minute flight away.
Each time the South Africans advanced and launched a
mortar attack, the rebels — armed with machine guns,
assault rifles, mortars and 12-barrel anti-aircraft rocket
launchers — retreated to the northwest until they reached
Mount Sinai. Then the Rooivalks were called in.
“Each of them made six turns. The rebels — those who were
still alive — withdrew,” said Williams.
But Karayiri’s attack on April 30 disproved the theory that
the Mai Mai would run at the first whiff of cordite.
“All hell broke loose that morning,” said Williams. “Bullets
were flying through our tents and sleeping bags.”
The attackers were wearing Congolese army uniforms,
making it almost impossible to tell friend from foe.
“It took great discipline for the men to fire only when they
were ordered to do so,” said Williams.
He deployed his men and machine guns on the left and right
perimeter, ordering them to fire simultaneously when he
launched a second flare.
By the end of the three-hour battle, nine Congolese soldiers
had been killed, several were injured, dozens of Mai Mai of
a force of 100 were dead and three South Africans were
wounded. One of them, Rifleman Sthabiso Mazibuko, was
seriously hurt, but he has made an almost full recovery.
Williams made frantic calls for an Oryx helicopter to
evacuate the wounded. For one excruciating hour the men
waited in suspense.
“I was worried about my man bleeding to death. You could
hear the Oryx’s rotors overhead, but they couldn’t land until
8am because the mist was too thick,” said Williams.
After his wounded troops were evacuated, Williams jumped
into a second Oryx, which was carrying forward air
controller Major Peet Venter. Venter guided the Rooivalks in
their attack on the fleeing Mai Mai, whom they spotted from
the air.
“We decided not to pursue them into the jungle on foot,”
said Williams.
“They could have surrounded us easily. It would have been a
suicide mission. And we didn’t want to leave the civilians
behind unprotected.”
Karayiri claimed to be defending the local people against
“foreign invaders and their allies”.
These “allies” included the FDLR — originally made up of
former genocidaires (French for “mass killers”) and Rwandan
army units who had fled to the DRC after the 1994 genocide
— M23 rebels, who the UN said were trained, sponsored,
equipped and sometimes led by Rwandans, and notorious
Rwanda-aligned local militiaman Ntabo Ntaberi Sheka. He is
accused of ordering mass rapes and beheadings.
Most observers believe that both the Patriotic Alliance and
its rivals are simply squabbling over control of lucrative
diamond, gold and tin mines.
Following the defeat of the M23 on November 4, the overall
UN military commander, Lieutenant-General Alberto dos
Santos Cruz, gave all rebels until December 5 to lay down
their arms and surrender or be hunted down and killed.
During this period, South African troops were engaged in
skirmishes with Mai Mai groups around Kitchanga, west of
Rutshuru, the former M23 administrative headquarters. Late
in November, 6 SA Infantry’s Alpha and Bravo companies
were airlifted to Pinga, where locals were being raped and
murdered.
“I deployed my platoons and recces to protect the local
population,” said Bravo company commander Captain Carl
Fuller. “We made it clear to Sheka that we were not going to
tolerate these murders and rapes and clashes with other
groupings.”
The day the FIB force landed in Pinga, Sheka “gave a clear
indication” that he wanted to surrender, said Fuller.
Within days, he held a “farewell parade” for the UN
commanders, surrendering one platoon that included
children, a mortar, a rusted mortar shell that “I think came
from World War 1”, 15 rounds of ammunition and one
pistol.
“He was clearly trying to bulls**t us,” said Fuller.
That night, Sheka and his men vanished into the mountains.
“He didn’t arrive for an appointment the next day. We tried
to locate him, but the locals refused to give us any
information. We went on vehicle patrols and aerial reconnaissance, but Sheka was nowhere to be seen. He was
a ghost.”
The South Africans were withdrawn to Goma in January, but
Sheka, who commands about 3000 men, attacked Pinga
again within a week, prompting the UN to redeploy them.
“When the Force Intervention Brigade is not there, the rebels
take over,” said Fuller.
Nyiabiondo was the last battle fought by 6 SA Infantry
Battalion before it returned to Grahamstown on May 28.
It was replaced by 5 SA Infantry Battalion, based in
Ladysmith. The relieving force is supporting Congolese
troops in driving the remaining Mai Mai rebels into a cordon
in the mountains north of Masisi and preparing for a final ground and air assault.

Below is picture of Captain David Williams and Captain Carl Fuller.