The Katangese Tigers or the Tigres[1] are Katangese fighters.
The term originally referred to ex-members of the Katangese Gendarmerie who refused to surrender after the State of Katanga's collapse in 1963. These former soldiers fled to Angola in the 1960s. They formed a rebel group, the Congolese National Liberation Front (FNLC), in the 1970s.[2] However, the FLNC was unsuccessful in overthrowing Zaire's government or retaking Katanga, and consequently fractured. Several FLNC fighters and ex-gendarmes made peace with Zaire's dictator Mobutu Sese Seko and joined his security forces.[3] Afterwards, the term "Katangese Tigers" was used to refer to Katangese militants who continued to oppose Mobutu; these fought alongside the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo in the First Congo War.[1] After Mobutu's overthrow, these "Tigers" then became an elite force within the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, loyal to President Laurent-Désiré Kabila.[4]
References
- ^ a b Abbott 2014, pp. 34–35.
- ^ Abbott 2014, pp. 21–23.
- ^ Abbott 2014, p. 34.
- ^ Abbott 2014, p. 36.
Sources
- Abbott, Peter (2014). Modern African Wars (4): The Congo 1960–2002. Oxford; New York City: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78200-076-1.
- Erik Kennes (March 1998). La guerre du Congo (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-10-06. Retrieved 2019-09-05.
- Kennes, Erik; Miles, Larmer (2016). The Katangese Gendarmes and War in Central Africa: Fighting Their Way Home. Bloomington; Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. JSTOR j.ctt1cg4n48.
- Filip Reyntjens (November 2009). The Great African War Congo and Regional Geopolitics, 1996–2006 (PDF). Cambridge University Press. p. 340. ISBN 9780521111287.
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