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Decades of post-colonial chaos

"Veni, Vidi, Vici, numquam reliquit - ego adduxit inimici mei !"

And among its leaders' most dramatic claims was that it was behind the mysterious

1961 plane crash that killed UN secretary general Dag Hammarskjöld and 15 other
people."

"Coups and Murder: The Sinister World of Apartheid's Secret Mercenaries" 166
The Guardian (January 2019)

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Mercenaries in Africa's conflicts

" Despite efforts by African governments to stamp out the practice, there seems to be no
shortage of men prepared to use their training on behalf of anyone willing to pay the right

price.

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The end of apartheid 10 years ago meant a large number of well trained personnel were
suddenly on the market, as many whites left the South African army.

***s citizens in Sudan. Then there were reports of South Africans fighting for diamond

companies in Sierra Leone. And then they were flying helicopters in the Ivory Coast. The
South African government has expressed its embarrassment over reports that South

African mercenaries had been arrested in Equatorial Guinea and Zimbabwe.

***
But South Africa is by no means the only source for mercenaries. Others have come from
European or US specialist units.

***
In recent years, the major development in freelance fighting for profit has been the

appearance of private military companies which offer their services to governments and
to commercial companies.The best known of these was Executive Outcomes (EO) -
initially based in South Africa and involved in Angola and Sierra Leone.

***
In Angola, EO employed former South African soldiers and was paid by the Angolan state

oil company, Sonangol, to assist the Angolan army in regaining control of the Soyo
oilfields from Unita rebels. It is estimated that EO was paid $40m for its services.

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