Likasi

Likasi is a town in Katanga Province, in the south-east region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (also known as Congo-DRC or Congo-Kinshasa). During the colonial period the town was called Jadotville.

Likasi has a population of around 360,000 (Doctors Worldwide, 2005). During the 1990s the population of the town increased as a result of the arrival of refugees from ethnic violence in Shaba, and the United Nations set up feeding centres and refugee centres around Likasi.

Likasi remans a centre for industry, especially mining, and is a transport hub for the surrounding region. There are mines and refineries supplied by nearby deposits of copper and cobalt.

In 1961, during the United Nations intervention in the Katanga conflict, a company of Irish UN troops was forced to surrender to troops loyal to the Katangese Prime Minister Moise Tshombe. The contingent of Irish UN troops sent to protect the Belgian colonists and local population were shamefully attacked by those they were sent to protect.

Having had problems with transportation, the troops were forced to deploy to Jadotville without their full compliment of support weaponry. However, their commanding officer had the foresight to order digging of defensive positions before the attacks thus saving many lives.

The initial attack occurred while many of the Irish troops were attending Mass. Expecting that the men would be unarmed during Mass, the first attackers moved rapidly in. They were quickly repelled by light machine-gun fire which alerted the entire company to the threat. This set the stage for a three-day battle. A combined force of mercenaries and Belgians with local tribesmen attacked the Irish. The UN soldiers had, for the most part, just light personal weapons and they held off a force in excess of 4000 armed with a mix of light and medium armament for several days. No Irish died though several were wounded and 55 attackers died in the siege.

Among the most effective weapons employed by the Irish combatants were a small number of antiquated water-cooled Vickers machine guns. Attempts to resupply water to the troops by helicopter succeeded, but the water was undrinkable because of contamination.

Several attempts were made to relieve the Irish but they were held back by a supporting force of Mercenaries who were brought in by the Belgians and Moise Tschombe, the premier of the breakaway province of Katanga. A feature of the failed attempts to relieve the siege was a series of battles at a bridge where the UN force were bombed by a Belgian jet fighter.

The Irish (A Company, 35th Battalion, led by Commandant Quinlan) inflicted over 300 casualties on the Katangans, while no Irish troops were killed (though five were wounded in action). In the end the Irish troops, having run out of ammunition and food and low on water surrendered to the Katangese. They were held as hostages for almost a month while the Katangese and their mercenary allies bartered them for prisoners in the custody of the legitimate Congolese Govt. of Kasavubu.

False reports of the deaths of several Irish soldiers circulated in the press in the British Isles at the time of the attacks. One theory suggests that the Belgian fighter pilot mistook bed rolls for body bags as he overflew the battlefield.

The battle of Jadotville was not, until recently, given much recognition by the Irish state. A commemorative stone honoring the soldiers of A Company was erected in the grounds of Custume Barracks in Athlone in 2005.

Likasi is also the birthplace of former Congolese head of state, Laurent Kabila.