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Operation Leopard
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| The town of Kolwezi is in south-east Zaire and, in 1978, was the centre of a major copper-and cobalt-mining in Katanga province. After independence in 1960, a secessionist insurrection was crushed with the help of United Nations troops. In April 1977, when Angola-based the Front Liberation National de Congo (Congolese National Liberation Army; FNLC) invaded Katanga, President Mobutu appealed to Western governments for military assistance. France supplied 2e Regiment Etranger de Parachutiste (2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment/2 REP) and Belgium, its Para-Commando Regiment. On 17 May 1978, 2 REP was transported from its base in Corsica to Zaire with orders - Save Kolwezi. | |||||||||
| While carrying out their final preparations, the Legionnaires discover that the American chutes they had been loaned were incompatible with their French harnesses. Undaunted, they modified the US rigs with bits of wire and string on which to attach equipment. | |||||||||
| On 19 May, after a short delay, the leading 2 REP companies, in broad daylight, parachuted into two drop zones very near Kolwezi to capture key buildings and facilities and successfully rescued several hundred European hostages against determined rebel resistance.
Next day more elements of 2 REP landed. Meanwhile a detachment of the Belgian Para-Commando Regiment had parachuted onto Kolwezi Airport but liaison with the French was near disastrous. On 21 May, the airborne elements of 2 REP met with the rest of the regiment, who had driven from Lubumbashi. |
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| On 28 May, the regiment handed the city to a multi-national African force and on 4 June, returned to Corsica. During the nine days operation, 2 REP lost five men killed and twenty wounded. | |||||||||
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