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1961 Siege of Jadotville... Congo crisis...
1961 Siege of Jadotville... Congo crisis...
Item # 721169
September 15, 1961
FITCHBURG SENTINEL, Mass., Sept. 15, 1961
* Attacks on Kamina & Elisabethville
* Operation Morthor - UN offensive
* Katangese troops - Irish armies
* Congo Crisis - Moïse Tshombe
The front page has a one column heading: "Katanga Attacks UN Base" (see images)
Complete with all 18 pages, light toning at the margins, nice condition.
AI notes: On September 15, 1961, during the Congo Crisis, United Nations forces launched an attack on Kamina, a key airbase in the secessionist State of Katanga. The assault was part of Operation Morthor, a UN offensive aimed at ending Katanga’s rebellion against the central Congolese government led by Moïse Tshombe. The Kamina base, which had been a major Belgian and NATO installation before independence, was used by Katangese forces for logistics and air operations. UN troops, largely Indian and Irish contingents, moved to capture the base to cut off Katanga’s military capabilities. After intense fighting, UN forces seized Kamina, gaining a strategic advantage, though the operation drew international criticism for escalating hostilities. The battle underscored the deepening conflict between UN peacekeeping goals and Katanga’s resistance to reintegration into Congo.
In Élisabethville, heavy street fighting erupted between UN troops and Katangese forces, with civilian casualties and the capture of several UN soldiers, including members of the Irish 35th Battalion, later besieged at Jadotville. The September 15 assault thus marked one of the most intense phases of the Congo Crisis—transforming a peacekeeping mission into open warfare between UN forces and Katanga’s secessionist army.
Category: The 20th Century
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