Beira fuel depot attack  Beira Beira (Mozambique) | |
|---|---|
| Part of theMozambican Civil War &Rhodesian Bush War | |
| Location | Beira,District of Munhava,Mozambique |
| Date | March 23, 1979 |
| Target | Beira's Fuel Depot and Electrical Supply |
Attack type | RPG and Machine Gun Attack |
| Deaths |  18 FPLM soldiers killed(RENAMO claim)[1]  1 RENAMO member killed[2] |
| Perpetrators |  Rhodesia South Africa[3]RENAMO |
The Beira fuel depot attack was a raid on the fuel depot inBeira'sMunhava District on March 23, 1979, and was conducted byRhodesian SAS forces who were assisted by South Africa'sFour-Recce Commandos. The attack resulted in millions of dollars’ worth of damages to Beira's fuel tanks belonging toMozambican and foreign companies as well as extra publicity for theRENAMO rebel group. Although RENAMO claimed responsibility and was credited for the attack byRhodesia, the raid was an almost entirely Rhodesian and South African effort except for the presence of a single RENAMO representative on the mission.[3]
20 men from the A Squadron in theRhodesian SAS under the leadership of CaptainBob McKenzie were chosen to partake in the attack. The team flew fromSalisbury,Rhodesia, to the South African 4 Recces base inCape Town to begin training before traveling toDurban, where they would take off forBeira in the SAS Frederick Creswell, afast attack craft. The saboteurs entered Beira at roughly 11 pm and arrived at the fuel facilities undetected. The Rhodesians used bombs, RPGs and machine guns to destroy the fuel tanks with a huge inferno engulfing the facility. The city erupted into commotion as the squadron fled the scene with gunfights flaring andanti-aircraft guns firing into the air. The Squadron made it back to the craft unharmed except for theRENAMO representative Marco Cinco who died in a battle.[2]
A 6-manSouth African Firefighting team was sent toBeira to put out the fire which had raged for around 40 hours before being extinguished.[4] However, the electricity supply to the city was restored only 4 hours after being cut.[5] Estimates of the cost of the damage range from $3 million to $16 million with oil tanks owned byMobil Oil,Shell,Caltex and Petrolmoc all damaged.[3][6] The oil in the depot was meant to be sent toMalawi.[7]
CaptainBob McKenzie was awarded theSilver Cross of Rhodesia for his participation in the attack which is Rhodesia's second highest military decoration.[8]
Robert Mugabe:ZANU-PF leader Robert Mugabe condemned the attack claiming it was "aimed at destabilizing thePeople's Republic of Mozambique so that it would subsequently reduce its support for the liberation struggle of theZimbabwe people"[7]{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Attack:19°48′14″S34°50′38″E / 19.80389°S 34.84389°E /-19.80389; 34.84389