S. AFRICAN TROOPS CROSS INTO ANGOLA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000302080013-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 21, 2012
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: September 17, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

ST Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/09/21 : CIA-
ARTICLE APPEARED
ON PAGE r9,=L_
WASHINGTON POST
17 Seotember 1985
S. African Troops Cross Into Angola
Raid Called Preemptive Strike Against Guerrillas Based There
By Glenn Frankel
Wallington Post Foreign Service
JOHANNESBURG, Sept. 16-
South African forces launched a raid
into southern Angola today in what
military officials said was a preemp-
tive strike against Namibian guer-
rillas based there.
Gen. Constand Viljoen, chief of
the South African Defense Force,
said the "follow-up operation" was
designed to prevent guerrillas of
the South-West Africa Peoples Or-
ganization (SWAPO) from launching
bombardments and ground attacks
against northern parts of Namibia,
the South African-controlled terri-
tory that abuts Angola.
He gave no indication of the size
of the invasion force, but he said it
was being supported by the South
African Air Force. He said the op-
eration was aimed primarily at
SWAPO's 8th Battalion and other
"special forces."
The battalion consists oPWtween
400 and 800 men, a military
spokesman later told the state-run
national television network. Lt.
Gen. Ian Gleeson, chief of staff of
the South African Defense Force,
said the action would "hopefully .. .
be over within the next week."
Viljoen said the Angolan military
had been informed of the incursion
and "requested not to interfere."
There was no immediate comment
from the Marxist government in
Luanda.
South African incursions into An-
gola have occurred several times in
recent years. It was unclear wheth-
er today's strike went far enough
north to risk encountering Cuban
troops, but the possibility appeared
unlikely, given the known-Cuban
deployment in the south. There are
about 25,000 Cuban troops in An-
gola in addition to Soviet and East
European advisers:
The incursion could mean a new
setback to American hopes for a
negotiated settlement between
South Africa atid Angola leading to
a withdrawal of the Cubans from
Angola and to independence for Na-
mibia. American. officials in Pretoria
told journalists at a briefing before
the announcement of the raid that
they were "keen to hear" a re-
sponse from Pretoria to Reagan
administration proposals made ear-
ly this year to revive the stalled
talks between Luanda and Pretoria.
Viljoen's brief statement tacitly
acknowledged the potential diplo-
matic damage of the raid, saying his
forces had had no alternative follow-
ing "irrefutable evidence of
SWAPO's plans" and the movement's
"contempt" for repeated South Af-
rican warnings to cease its attacks.
He said the strike followed
months of "intensive intelligence-
gathering" inside Angola showing
that SWAPO "planned standoff
bombardments on military bases
and attacks on soft targets" inside
Ovamboland. Namibia's northern
region and major population center.
" , The guerrillas also intended to
:attack "larger towns and residential
:areas," according to Villjoen, and
had increased "abductions, intim-
idation and sabotage" sharply in
preparation for new attacks..
The intelligence was confirmed by
the capture of two guerrillas inside
Namibia within the last 24 hours, the
military spokesman sai
The last major cross-border op-
eration by South African forces into
Angola took place in late June and
lasted three days. South Africa re-
ported killing 57 guerrillas and cap-
turing five during the action, in
which its troops reportedly moved
25 miles into Angolan territory.
Angolan forces apparently made no
attempt to repulse the troops.
From 1981 until earlier this year
South Africa maintained a permanent
military presence in southern Angola
to try to thwart guerrilla attacks by
SWAPO, which has fought a 19-year
bush war to free Namibia from South
African control.
Annual military operations by
SWAPO into Namibia, usually com-
mencing with the rainy season
sometime between September and
November, are regular events.
In December 1983 South Africa
launched its largest cross-border
strike against SWAPO, an operation
that for the first time prompted a
large-scale military response by
Angolan forces backed by Cuban
troops and Soviet arms and advis-
ers. Early last year South Africa
and Angola agreed to a cease-fire
and a gradual disengagement of
forces that U.S. diplomats hailed as
a major step toward a settlement.
South African forces gradually
pulled back to the Namibian border
during the course of more than a
year. But the two sides remained
far apart over a timetable for Cuban
troop withdrawal, and the agree-
ment unraveled when two South
African commandos were killed and
one captured inside Angolan terri-
tory last May and South African
troops reentered southern Angola
in June.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/09/21 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000302080013-8