Conflict episode

South African Border War begins, 1966

SWAPO's armed wing began an insurgency against South African rule in 1966, opening a war that continued until the 1988 tripartite agreement and 1989 settlement implementation.

What happened

SWAPO's armed wing, the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), began an insurgency against South African rule in 1966, opening a conflict that continued alongside the Angolan Civil War until the 1988 tripartite agreement and the 1989 implementation of the UN settlement plan. Published casualty figures are disputed: South African Defence Force deaths are variously cited as roughly 2,365-2,500, or as approximately 11,335 total SADF casualties by one broader tally, while SWAPO/PLAN losses are cited between roughly 2,016 and 5,000 dead; these figures overlap with, and are not cleanly separable from, Angolan Civil War casualties, and no single authoritative count exists for the Namibian insurgency alone.[1]

Sources for this page

Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.

  1. 1.

    Claim: Published casualty figures for the 1966-1989 South African Border War (the SWAPO insurgency and South African counter-insurgency campaign) are disputed: South African Defence Force deaths are cited as roughly 2,365-2,500, or as approximately 11,335 total SADF casualties by one broader tally, while SWAPO/PLAN deaths are cited between roughly 2,016 and 5,000; these figures overlap with, and are not cleanly separable from, Angolan Civil War casualties, and no single authoritative count exists for the Namibian insurgency alone.

Source note

Show in the notes list