₦airaland Forum

SANDF

SANDF DOES NOT NEED ASSISTANCE FROM NEIGHBOURS TO FIGHT ITS OWN WARS

SANDF NOT A DISGRACE OF THE NATION

SOUTH AFRICAN NAVY DIVERS....SOON WOULD BE HELPING NIGERIA

PICTURES OF THE WAR IN ANGOLA

AFRICA'S LARGEST AIRFORCE BASE

The South African Mercenaries who rescued the pride of Nigeria

The men who helped the Nigerian army

REALLY ARMIES FIGHTING AGAINST EACH OTHER NOT A RAG TAG ARMY WHICH IS RESCUED BY NEIGHBOURS FIGHTING A RAG TAG BAND OF TERRORISTS

REALLY PHOTOS FOUGHT BY SADF AGAINST CUBANS IN ANGOLA

SANDF

HELP NIGERIA SOUTH AFRICA

ALL THE MEDIA SOURCES CONFIRM THE PRESENCE OF SOUTH AFRICA MERCENARIES....FOR NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT TO DENIED THE MAJOR ROLE OF THESE MERCENARIES IS UNDERSTANDABLE FROM THE POINT OF FAILURE BY NIGERIAN ARMED FORCES TO DEFEAT BOKO HARAM ON THEIR OWN...CHAD AND CAMEROON HAVE HELPED A LOT:

Multiple media reports appear to have confirmed the presence of elite South African mercenaries on the front lines of Nigeria's war against the extremist militants of Boko Haram.

Their alleged involvement brings new focus to the internationalization of the conflict in Nigeria, which has pulled troops from a host of neighboring countries into the fray.

The suspected presence of mercenaries was first reported by Reuters. The report confirmed that hundreds of mercenary fighters from South Africa and countries in the former Soviet Union were already on the ground in northeastern Nigeria, including in the city of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, which is at the heart of Boko Haram's bloody insurgency.

www.washingtonpost.com/.../south-african-mercenaries-join-nigerias-fight

[Video: Nigeria pushes back Boko Haram militants]

Nigerian officials have said publicly that foreign contractors are simply helping with the training of Nigerian forces, but anonymous sources have confirmed to various outlets that the mercenaries are indeed playing a far more direct role in the fight.

"They are playing a very important role," a senior Nigerian official told the New York Times, describing how mercenaries have helped roll back Boko Haram's advance. "They are in the vanguard in the liberation of some of the communities. They came in with much more sophisticated equipment than the military. Thanks to their involvement the tide is turning. I believe because of them we will witness a seismic shift."

At least one South African private contractor, 59-year-old Leon Lotz, has been reported killed in clashes with Boko Haram.

Boko Haram, an Islamist terrorist group that's now a self-proclaimed affiliate of the Islamic State, has carved a gruesome trail through northern Nigeria and carried out attacks also in neighboring Cameroon and Niger. They have abducted hundreds of people and slaughtered thousands -- more than 4,700 people just last year -- and continued their operations despite a heavy-handed Nigerian military response.

The threat posed by Boko Haram even prompted the Nigerian government to postpone national elections, originally scheduled for last month, to the end of March.

A coalition of 8,700 troops from Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin have also joined the battle. A joint offensive into Nigerian territory by forces from Niger and Chad recently managed to wrest a number of towns away from Boko Haram's clutches.

SANDF

Johannesburg/Dakar - Nigeria has brought in hundreds of mercenaries from South Africa and the former Soviet Union to give its offensive against Boko Haram a shot in the arm before a 28 March election, according to regional security, defence and diplomatic sources.

Rumours about the use of foreign "soldiers of fortune" against the Islamist militant group gained substance this month when pictures surfaced on Twitter showing armoured vehicles rumbling along a street in what was said to be Maiduguri, the regional capital of Nigeria's Boko Haram-hit northeast.

In one photo that appeared on Twitter on 6 March, a white man in a khaki tee-shirt and body armour is shown beside a heavy-calibre machine gun on top of one of the sand-coloured vehicles as the column drives through the streets at dusk.

A Reuters reporter with knowledge of Maiduguri was able to verify the location of the photo as the Bama road, leading southeast out of the city, near the University of Maiduguri.

Election campaign posters of Borno state governor Kashim Shettima hanging from street lights indicate it was taken recently. The lights, notable for their ornate ironwork, were only installed last year.

Trainers and technicians

In confirming the presence of hundreds of foreign military contractors on the ground, including recently in the city of Maiduguri, security and diplomatic sources put the total much higher than the hundred or so previously reported.

Nigerian government spokesperson Mike Omeri declined to comment, referring questions to military spokesperson Chris Olukolade, who also declined to respond to multiple requests for comment.

In an interview with Voice of America late on Wednesday, President Goodluck Jonathan said two companies were providing "trainers and technicians" to help Nigerian forces. He did not name the firms, or the nationalities, or give numbers.

But a West African security source and a South African defence source said the foreign troops were linked to the bosses of former South African private military firm Executive Outcomes.

Executive Outcomes was best-known for its involvement in Angola's 1975-2002 civil war and against Revolutionary United Front rebels in an internal conflict in Sierra Leone in 1995. It disbanded in 1998, under pressure from the post-apartheid government in Pretoria to curtail mercenary activities.

Incoherent mix of people

The West African security source said several hundred foreigners were involved in running major offensive operations against Boko Haram, and were being paid around $400 a day in cash.

Their impact on the fighting so far could not be quantified, but the general run of the campaign has seen the tide turn somewhat against Boko Haram in recent weeks.

Separately, a South African defence contractor confirmed to Reuters that ex-Executive Outcomes leaders were involved in the deployment, which comes after the six-week postponement of elections in mid-February due to the threat from Boko Haram.

One Abuja-based diplomat said the South Africans were backed by soldiers and hardware from the former Soviet Union in an alliance against Boko Haram, which has killed thousands of people in its six-year campaign to establish an Islamic caliphate in northern Nigeria.

"It's an incoherent mix of people, helicopters and random kit from all sorts of different sources, but there is an element of internal cohesion from the Nigerian army," the diplomat said.

"It appears to be a desperate ploy to get some sort of tactical success up there in six weeks for the electoral boost," the diplomat added. The numbers of soldiers involved were in the "low hundreds", the diplomat added.

"No business to be there"

John Stupart, editor of African Armed Forces magazine, identified the troop carriers as Reva III, manufactured by a Pretoria-based company called Integrated Convoy Protection.

After reports of South African military trainers first surfaced in the Afrikaans-language Beeld newspaper in January, Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapise-Nqakula made clear her displeasure, saying any deployment would be illegal under 1998 anti-mercenary laws.

"They are mercenaries, whether they are training, skilling the Nigerian defence force, or scouting for them. The point is they have no business to be there," she was quoted as saying in domestic media this month.

South Africa bans its nationals from participating directly in hostilities for private gain. Georgia, seen as a major source of mercenaries, has laws before parliament criminalising participation in a broad range of foreign military activities.

Reuters was unable to reach the former bosses of Executive Outcomes through military contacts in South Africa.

The appearance of foreign private soldiers comes four months after Nigeria's ambassador to the United States said Washington was not helping the struggle against Boko Haram, and had failed to share intelligence and sell Nigeria the weapons it needed.

The presence of mercenaries from South Africa and the former Soviet Union adds to the broad array of forces lining up against Boko Haram, which has emerged in the last few years as sub-Saharan Africa's biggest security threat.

Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin have committed troops to an 8 700-strong regional force. This week, Chad and Niger launched a joint military offensive deep into Nigerian territory.

US and European special forces have just completed three weeks of war games with regional counterparts near Lake Chad, one of boundaries of a Boko Haram sphere of influence thought at one time to be the size of Belgium.

http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Nigeria-drafts-in-foreign-mercenaries-to-take-on-Boko-Haram-20150312

SANDF

KOEVET MEMBERS

SANDF

PHOTO AND STORY OF THE DEAD SOUTH AFRICAN KILLED IN NIGERIA

Johannesburg - The South African private military contractor who died when his tank was attacked in Nigeria knew what his mission might entail, his wife Almarie told Netwerk24.

"He went into it with eyes wide open. Luckily he died instantly, which every soldier would want, instead of suffering," she reportedly said.

Lotz and five Nigerian soldiers were killed when they were fired on at a roadblock near Maiduguri on Monday.

His commander from his days with counter-insurgency unit Koevoet during the border war with Namibia, identified only as "Nangombe", was also reportedly killed.

Second South African death

The South African and Nigerian governments have denied knowledge of South African soldiers training Nigerian soldiers against the militant organisation Boko Haram.

He is the second South African to die there after another man died of a heart attack six weeks ago.

His wife said he had resigned from work in Iraq to go to Nigeria. He was due home on Monday for a rest.

"I have peace in my mind that he did what was in his blood. Everything just feels so unreal," she said.

She said their son Leon, 22, was proud of his father.

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/SA-military-contractor-killed-in-Nigeria-20150312

SANDF

PROOF STARING TO COME IN OF SOUTH AFRICANS FIGHTING BOKO HARAM

A private South African para-military specialist has been killed in an attack by Nigerian Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram.

Former Koevoet member Leon Lotz, of KwaZulu-Natal, is among scores of former South African security force personnel helping to train government and allied forces to fight the insurgents.

The group of which Lotz was a member is believed to be contracted to the Nigerian government. It does not have the support of the South African government.

Lotz and five others, including another foreigner and four Nigerian soldiers, were killed on Monday near Maiduguri.

The nationality of the other foreigner is not known.

Maiduguri, the capital of Nigeria's north-eastern Borno state, has been the scene of intense fighting between Boko Haram and pro-government militias fighting alongside government troops.

About 80 South Africans are providing assistance to the forces engaging Boko Haram in the form of advice on military tactics and intelligence gathering, and training in the use of heavy weapons and advanced fighting techniques.

Lotz's neice, Vanes-Mari du Toit, posted on Facebook: "What an absolute honour knowing you. You fought for what was right, always had the best advice.

"Today I say goodbye to a legend of an uncle, who passed away in battle fighting Boko Haram ... Rus sag, Oom (Rest softly, Uncle)."
http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2015/03/12/former-sa-koevoet-fighter-killed-in-battle-against-boko-haram

These guys are helping Nigerian Giant.....Former South African Special forces

PROFESSIONAL ARMY

SANDF

WHO SAID NIGERIAN GENERALS ARE NOT FAT/

NOTHING TO COMPARE

SOUTH AFRICAN MADE DRONES.....@AUGUSTUS NOT ONE BUT THREE VERSION MUMU

SANDF 30 YEARS OF CONTINOUS FIGHTING

SANDF PRODUCT OF ITS OWN SUCCESS NOT RELYING ON FOREIGN WEAPONS

DESIGNED BY SOUTH AFRICANS AND PRODUCED IN SOUTH AFRICA.....NOT BY CHINA, PAKISTAN, US OR ANY FOREIGN POWER

SANDF

SANDF DOES NOT NEED ASSISTANCE TO FIGHT ITS WARS