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{{Short description|Zimbabwe National Army unit}}
{{Infobox military unit
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name= 5th Brigade
|unit_name= 5th Brigade
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|alt=
|alt=
|caption=
|caption=
|dates= 1981–present<ref name="Nelson">{{Cite book| title = Zimbabwe, a Country Study | edition = Second | editor-last = Nelson | editor-first = Harold D | year = 1983 | publisher = Department of the Army, [[American University]] | location = Washington, D.C. | series = Area Handbook Series | oclc = 227599708 | pages = 263-272}}</ref>
|dates= 1981–present<ref name="Nelson">{{Cite book| title = Zimbabwe, a Country Study | edition = Second | editor-last = Nelson | editor-first = Harold D | year = 1983 | publisher = Department of the Army, [[American University]] | location = Washington, D.C. | series = Area Handbook Series | oclc = 227599708 | pages = 263–272}}</ref>
|country= {{flag|Zimbabwe}}
|country= {{flag|Zimbabwe}}
|allegiance=
|allegiance=
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|command_structure=
|command_structure=
|garrison=[[Gweru]], Zimbabwe<ref name="Nelson"/>
|garrison=[[Gweru]], Zimbabwe<ref name="Nelson"/>
|nickname= ''Gukurahundi''<ref name=Demob>{{cite book|last=Dzinesa|first=Gwinyayi|title=Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration in Southern Africa: Swords into Ploughshares?|date=2017|pages=45-48|publisher=Palgrave-Macmillan|location=Basingstoke|isbn=978-3319605487}}</ref>
|nickname= ''Gukurahundi''<ref name=Demob>{{cite book|last=Dzinesa|first=Gwinyayi|title=Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration in Southern Africa: Swords into Ploughshares?|date=2017|pages=45–48|publisher=Palgrave-Macmillan|location=Basingstoke|isbn=978-3319605487}}</ref>
|motto=
|motto=
|battles=[[Gukurahundi]] campaign</br>[[Mozambican Civil War]]
|battles=[[Gukurahundi]] campaign<br />[[Mozambican Civil War]]
|notable_commanders=[[Perence Shiri]]<ref name=Bermudez1/>
|notable_commanders=[[Perrance Shiri]]<ref name=Bermudez1/>
}}
}}


The '''5th Brigade''' was an [[infantry]] [[Brigade (military)|brigade]] of the [[Zimbabwe National Army]] (ZNA). The 5th Brigade was created in 1981 from three former battalions of the [[Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army]] (ZANLA).<ref name="Nelson"/> It later incorporated over 3,000 ex-ZANLA guerrillas from various units.<ref name="Nelson"/> The brigade was based in [[Gweru]] and participated in the [[Mozambican Civil War]]<ref name=Bermudez1/> as well as a controversial domestic operation known as ''[[Gukurahundi]]'' which targeted disgruntled former [[Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army]] (ZIPRA) guerrillas and their supporters.<ref name=Visual>{{cite book|last=Moore|first=Alexandra|title=Vulnerability and Security in Human Rights Literature and Visual Culture|date=1997|pages=70-77|publisher=Routledge Books|location=Abingdon-on-Thames|isbn=978-1138860278}}</ref>
The '''5th Brigade''' is an [[infantry]] [[Brigade (military)|brigade]] of the [[Zimbabwe National Army]] (ZNA). The 5th Brigade was created in 1981 from three former battalions of the [[Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army]] (ZANLA).<ref name="Nelson"/> It later incorporated over 3,000 ex-ZANLA guerrillas from various units.<ref name="Nelson"/> The brigade was based in [[Gweru]] and participated in the [[Mozambican Civil War]]<ref name=Bermudez1/> as well as a [[genocide]] known as the ''[[Gukurahundi]]'' which targeted [[Northern Ndebele people|Ndebele]] civilians and [[Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army]] (ZIPRA) guerrillas.<ref name=Visual>{{cite book|last=Moore|first=Alexandra|title=Vulnerability and Security in Human Rights Literature and Visual Culture|date=1997|pages=70–77|publisher=Routledge Books|location=Abingdon-on-Thames|isbn=978-1138860278}}</ref>


The 5th Brigade was reactivated in 2006 following a prolonged period of inactivity.<ref>http://www.zimbabwedefence.com/News_51_Gets_Comm.html, accessed March 2009</ref>
The 5th Brigade was reactivated in 2006 following a prolonged period of inactivity.<ref>http://www.zimbabwedefence.com/News_51_Gets_Comm.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408221957/http://www.zimbabwedefence.com/News_51_Gets_Comm.html |date=2008-04-08 }}, accessed March 2009</ref>


==Organization==
==Organization==


The 5th Brigade was subordinate only to the Chief of the Zimbabwe National Army.<ref name="Nelson"/> In 1983, it consisted of five infantry battalions as well as an armoured component equipped with [[T-54/55]] tanks.<ref name="Nelson"/> The brigade was at least partly mechanised and possessed a number of [[BTR-152]] armoured personnel carriers.<ref name="Nelson"/>
The 5th Brigade was subordinate only to the Chief of the Zimbabwe National Army.<ref name="Nelson"/> In 1983, it consisted of five infantry battalions as well as an armoured company equipped with [[T-54/55|T-54]] tanks.<ref name="Nelson"/> The brigade was at least partly mechanised and possessed a number of [[BTR-152]] armoured personnel carriers.<ref name="Nelson"/>


==History==
==History==


The Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) was created in 1980 through the amalgamation of the former [[Rhodesian Army]] with the militant wings of two rival guerrilla organisations: the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) and the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA).<ref name="Nelson"/> To ease the integration process, large numbers of former Rhodesian servicemen and guerrillas were demobolised and the remaining troops interdispersed throughout new units.<ref name="Nelson"/> By 1981, the bulk of the ZNA's manpower was concentrated in thirty-seven new light infantry battalions composed of about 37,000 personnel, almost all of whom were former ZANLA and ZIPRA guerrillas.<ref name="Nelson"/> The battalions were to be trained by a combination of British and former Rhodesian military instructors.<ref name="Nelson"/> Guerrillas from both sides resisted integration by establishing separate camps.<ref name=Demob/>
The Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) was created in 1980 through the amalgamation of the former [[Rhodesian Army]] with the militant wings of two rival guerrilla organisations: the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) and the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA).<ref name="Nelson"/> To ease the integration process, large numbers of former Rhodesian servicemen and guerrillas were demobilised and the remaining troops interspersed throughout new units.<ref name="Nelson"/> By 1981, the bulk of the ZNA's manpower was concentrated in thirty-seven new light infantry battalions composed of about 37,000 personnel, almost all of whom were former ZANLA and ZIPRA guerrillas.<ref name="Nelson"/> The battalions were to be trained by a combination of British and former Rhodesian military instructors.<ref name="Nelson"/> Guerrillas from both sides resisted integration by establishing separate camps.<ref name=Demob/>


The infantry battalions were almost immediately wracked by inter-factional skirmishes in [[1980 Entumbane clashes|in 1980]] and [[1981 Entumbane uprising|again in 1981]].<ref name=Demob/> Zimbabwean prime minister [[Robert Mugabe]] and his government responded by disbanding three battalions and reorganising the remainder into four separate brigades.<ref name="Nelson"/> Furthermore, all former guerrillas awaiting integration with their new units were to be disarmed ''en masse''.<ref name=Demob/> Upon learning of this policy, some former ZIPRA personnel began to desert the army, taking their weapons with them.<ref name=Demob/> They complained that the disarmament campaign targeted them unfairly and was being used to buttress the military influence of ex-ZANLA troops at their expense.<ref name=Demob/> Mutinies by ZIPRA elements in the ZNA became notoriously common.<ref name=Demob/> In 1982 there were several hundred disgruntled and otherwise unemployed ZIPRA fighters at large in the provinces of [[Matabeleland South]] and [[Matabeleland North]], many of whom had resorted to armed banditry.<ref name=Howe>{{cite book|last=Howe|first=Herbert|title=Ambiguous Order: Military Forces in African States|date=2004|page=38|publisher=Lynne Rienner, Publishers|location=Boulder, Colorado|isbn=978-1588263155}}</ref> The Zimbabwean government referred to the ex-ZIPRA deserters simply as "dissidents".<ref name=Howe/>
The infantry battalions were almost immediately wracked by inter-factional skirmishes [[1980 Entumbane clashes|in 1980]] and [[1981 Entumbane uprising|again in 1981]].<ref name=Demob/> Zimbabwean prime minister [[Robert Mugabe]] and his government responded by disbanding three battalions and reorganising the remainder into four brigades.<ref name="Nelson"/> All former guerrillas awaiting integration with their new units were to be disarmed ''en masse''.<ref name=Demob/> Upon learning of this policy, some former ZIPRA personnel began to desert the army, taking their weapons with them.<ref name=Demob/> They complained that the disarmament campaign targeted them unfairly and was being used to buttress the military influence of ex-ZANLA troops at their expense.<ref name=Demob/> Mutinies by ZIPRA elements in the ZNA became notorious.<ref name=Demob/> In 1982 there were several hundred disgruntled and otherwise unemployed ZIPRA fighters at large in the provinces of [[Matabeleland South]] and [[Matabeleland North]], many of whom had resorted to armed banditry.<ref name=Howe>{{cite book|last=Howe|first=Herbert|title=Ambiguous Order: Military Forces in African States|date=2004|page=[https://archive.org/details/ambiguousordermi0000howe/page/38 38]|publisher=Lynne Rienner, Publishers|location=Boulder, Colorado|isbn=978-1588263155|url=https://archive.org/details/ambiguousordermi0000howe/page/38}}</ref> The Zimbabwean government referred to the ex-ZIPRA deserters simply as "dissidents".<ref name=Howe/>


In the wake of escalating dissident activity, Mugabe announced his intention to form a fifth infantry brigade composed solely of ex-ZANLA troops.<ref name="Nelson"/> In August 1981, two preexisting ZANLA battalions and an additional 3,000 ZANLA guerrillas from various units were selected for training in the new 5th Brigade.<ref name="Nelson"/> Unlike the ZNA's other four brigades, this unit was to be armed and trained by a special [[North Korea]]n military mission.<ref name=Bermudez1/> The 5th Brigade was not structured for conventional military operations but rather as a specialized counter-insurgency unit.<ref name=Bermudez1/> Ex-ZIPRA and Rhodesian troops resented the brigade for its apparent exclusiveness and the fact that it was permitted to operate independently from the ZNA's normal command structure, being subordinate only to the Chief of the Army.<ref name="Nelson"/> The 5th Brigade was trained from August 1981 to June 1982 at Inyanga, an isolated mountain base near the Zimbabwean-Mozambican border.<ref name="Nelson"/> It was then moved to its permanent base in [[Gweru]].<ref name="Nelson"/>
In the wake of escalating dissident activity, Mugabe announced his intention to form a fifth infantry brigade composed solely of ex-ZANLA troops.<ref name="Nelson"/> In August 1981, two existing ZANLA battalions and an additional 3,000 ZANLA guerrillas from various units were selected for training in the new 5th Brigade.<ref name="Nelson"/> The officers were largely drawn from ex-ZANLA officer candidates whose poor educational qualifications had resulted in their failing standardised officer school.<ref name=Kriger>{{cite book|last=Kriger|first=Norma|title= Guerrilla Veterans in Post-War Zimbabwe: Symbolic and Violent Politics, 1980-1987|date=2003|pages=31, 128–135, 247|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0521818230}}</ref> A smaller number of ex-ZIPRA officers from 4th Brigade were also transferred to the 5th Brigade to serve in various technical and specialist roles.<ref name=Kriger/>


Unlike the ZNA's other four brigades, this unit was to be armed and trained by a special [[North Korea]]n military mission, which was chosen to train the newly-formed brigade because of Mugabe's admiration for North Korea's dictatorial regime.<ref name="ColdWarHistory2017">{{cite journal |last1=Choi |first1=Lyong |last2=Jeong |first2=Il-young |date=22 June 2017 |title=North Korea and Zimbabwe, 1978–1982: from the strategic alliance to the symbolic comradeship between Kim Il Sung and Robert Mugabe |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14682745.2017.1328406 |journal=Cold War History |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=329–349 |doi=10.1080/14682745.2017.1328406 |s2cid=157656488 |access-date=25 May 2022}}</ref><ref name=Bermudez1/> The 5th Brigade was not structured for conventional military operations but rather as a specialized counter-insurgency unit.<ref name=Bermudez1/> Ex-ZIPRA and Rhodesian troops resented the brigade for its apparent exclusiveness and the fact that it was permitted to operate independently from the ZNA's normal command structure, being subordinate only to the Chief of the Army.<ref name="Nelson"/> The 5th Brigade was trained from August 1981, when the first North Korean military advisers arrived in Zimbabwe,<ref name="ColdWarHistory2017" /> to June 1982 at Inyanga, an isolated mountain base near the Zimbabwean-Mozambican border.<ref name="Nelson"/> It was then moved to its permanent base in [[Gweru]].<ref name="Nelson"/>
At the time of its formation, the 5th Brigade was the ZNA's only mechanised infantry brigade, and most of its arsenal&mdash;including T-54/55 tanks, BTR-152 armoured personnel carriers, BRDM-2 scout cars, towed anti-tank artillery, and multiple rocket launchers, far exceeded the capabilities of ground weapons in the other four brigades' inventories.<ref name="Nelson"/>


At the time of its formation, the 5th Brigade was the ZNA's only mechanised infantry brigade, and most of its arsenal&mdash;including T-54 tanks, BTR-152 armoured personnel carriers, BRDM-2 scout cars, towed anti-tank artillery, and multiple rocket launchers, far exceeded the capabilities of ground weapons in the other four brigades' inventories.<ref name="Nelson"/> However, serious practical difficulties also resulted in the brigade's use of unique codes and radio equipment which were otherwise incompatible with those of other army units.<ref name=Meredith>{{cite book|title=Mugabe: Power, Plunder and the Struggle for Zimbabwe|last=Meredith|first=Martin|author-link=Martin Meredith|date=September 2007|orig-year=2002|location=New York|publisher=[[Perseus Books Group|PublicAffairs]]|isbn=978-1-58648-558-0|pages=[https://archive.org/details/mugabepowerplund00mere/page/65 65–72]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/mugabepowerplund00mere/page/65}}</ref>
==Training==
In October 1980, Prime Minister [[Robert Mugabe]] signed an agreement with the [[North Korea]]n President, [[Kim Il-sung|Kim Il Sung]], that they would train and equip a brigade for the [[Zimbabwe National Army]] (ZNA).<ref name=dugger>{{cite news|last=Dugger|first=Celia W.|title=Art Exhibit Stirs Up the Ghosts of Zimbabwe’s Past|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/24/world/africa/24zimbabwe.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha3|accessdate=24 January 2011|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=23 January 2011}}</ref> In August 1981, 106 North Koreans arrived to train the new brigade.


⚫
===Mozambican Civil War===
The members of the Fifth Brigade were drawn from 3,500 former troops of the [[Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army]] (ZANLA), including two unintegrated ZANLA battalions, at [[Josiah Tongogara|Tongogara]] Assembly Point. There were a few [[Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army]] (ZIPRA) troops in the unit initially, but they were withdrawn before the end of the training. It has been reported that there were also some foreigners in the unit, possibly [[Tanzania]]ns. The training of the Fifth Brigade lasted until September 1982, when Minister Sekeramayi announced training was complete.


The 5th Brigade was one of the first ZNA units to be deployed into [[Mozambique]] during the [[Mozambican Civil War]].<ref name=DPRK>{{cite book|last=Bermudez|first=Joseph|title=Terrorism, the North Korean connection|date=1997|page=124|publisher=Crane, Russak & Company|location=New York|isbn=978-0844816104}}</ref> In mid-1982 the brigade was deployed to defend a strategic rail line from [[Beira, Mozambique|Beira]] to the Zimbabwean border from sabotage attempts by the [[Mozambican National Resistance]] (RENAMO).<ref name=DPRK/> Counteroffensives against RENAMO were jointly planned at the command level by Zimbabwean, Mozambican, and North Korean officers.<ref name=DPRK/>
==Background==
The first Commander of the Fifth Brigade was Colonel [[Perence Shiri]]. The Fifth Brigade was different from all other army units in that it was not integrated into the army. It answered only to the Prime Minister, and not to the normal army command structures. Their codes, uniforms, radios and equipment were not compatible with other army units. Their most distinguishing feature in the field was their red berets, although many reports note that on occasions Fifth Brigade soldiers would operate in civilian clothes. Mugabe was also responsible and ordered Sekeramayi to announce that the training was over.


===Tensions with ex-ZIPRA forces===
==Fighting==
===Background===
In the elections of February 1980, Mugabe and his [[Zimbabwe African National Union]] (ZANU) won a landslide victory and Mugabe became Zimbabwe's second black prime minister (after [[Abel Muzorewa]]). Mugabe, whose political support came from his Shona-speaking tribal homeland in the north, attempted to build Zimbabwe on a basis of an uneasy coalition with his [[Zimbabwe African People's Union]] (ZAPU) rivals, whose support came mostly from the [[Northern Ndebele language|Ndebele]]-speaking south, [[Matabeleland]], and with whites. Mugabe sought to incorporate ZAPU into his ZANU–led government and ZAPU's military wing into the army; and ZAPU's leader, [[Joshua Nkomo]], was given a series of cabinet positions in Mugabe's government. However, the new prime minister was torn between this objective and pressures to meet the expectations of his own ZANU followers for a faster pace of social change.


The 5th Brigade's independent nature soon placed it at sometimes violent odds with other brigades of the ZNA.<ref name=Kriger/> In September 1982, some of its personnel fired on ex-ZIPRA troops serving in the 4th Brigade.<ref name=Kriger/> This prompted a mass exodus of former ZIPRA personnel from 4th Brigade, which was forced to disband four of its battalions due to the loss of personnel to desertion.<ref name=Kriger/>
Around this time, ex-ZANLA and ZIPRA troops awaiting demobilization or integration into the new national army also clashed in Bulawayo and other areas. Sometimes these clashes had civilian casualties as some of the ex-guerilla units were stationed in cantonments adjacent to residential areas. An abortive ZAPU rebellion and discontent in Matabeleland spelled the end for this uneasy coalition. In 1982 Mugabe dismissed Nkomo from his cabinet, which triggered bitter fighting between ZAPU supporters in the Ndebele-speaking region of the country and the ruling ZANU.


In December 1982, the 5th Brigade dismissed all its ex-ZIPRA officers.<ref name=Kriger/> Ex-ZIPRA personnel accused the 5th Brigade of purposefully instigating tensions between the factional elements in the other four brigades.<ref name=Kriger/>
===Gukurahundi===

===Anti-dissident operations===
{{main|Gukurahundi}}
{{main|Gukurahundi}}
Between 1983 and 1987 the Fifth Brigade brutally crushed any resistance in Matabeleland and many atrocities were committed. Over 10,000 civilians died and were buried in mass graves.<ref name=dugger/> The intensity of their actions during the mid-1980s is associated with a specific [[Shona language|Shona]] word: [[Gukurahundi]]. This is most simply translated as "the rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains."


In January 1983 the 5th Brigade was deployed into Matabeleland North with the objective of eliminating the local dissidents.<ref name=Meredith/> Its anti-dissident campaign was known simply as ''Gukurahundi'', a [[Shona language]] term defined as "the rain which blows away the chaff before spring".<ref name=Meredith/> The word had been also been applied to ZANLA mobilization tactics during the [[Rhodesian Bush War]] in 1979.<ref name=Meredith/> Prime Minister Mugabe had bestowed the nickname ''Gukurahundi'' to the brigade in December 1982 and it figured prominently in the 5th Brigade's emblems and standards.<ref name=Meredith/>
⚫
===Mozambican Civil War===

During Zimbabwe's intervention in the [[Mozambican Civil War]], the Fifth Brigade was deployed to protect the Umtali-Beira Railway from raids by [[Mozambican National Resistance]] (RENAMO) guerrillas.<ref name=DPRK>{{cite book|last=Bermudez|first=Joseph|title=Terrorism, the North Korean connection|date=1997|page=124|publisher=Crane, Russak & Company|location=New York|isbn=978-0844816104}}</ref> The unit participated in its first engagements against RENAMO in mid-1982, alongside a specialized counter-insurgency brigade of the Mozambican armed forces which was established with both North Korean and Zimbabwean assistance.<ref name=DPRK/>
The Zimbabwean government provided the 5th Brigade with meticulous records of ex-ZIPRA deserters and demobilized ZIPRA personnel, who were to be detained for questioning.<ref name=Meredith/> While the brigade's directives specified a search for ex-ZIPRA guerrillas, it failed to differentiate between those affiliated with ZIPRA and the same movement's political wing, the [[Zimbabwe African People's Union]] (ZAPU).<ref name=Kriger/> Prior to the deployment, this attitude had been reinforced by the alleged discovery of arms on several ZAPU properties, leading to the mass dismissal of ZAPU officials from the government and the arrest of senior ex-ZIPRA army officers.<ref name=Demob/> In March 1983, 5th Brigade troops ransacked the home of ZAPU chairman [[Joshua Nkomo]], shooting three of his domestic staff during the raid.<ref name=Meredith/> The 5th Brigade's commander, Perrance Shiri, perceived all ex-ZIPRA troops, including those employed in the civil service or the ZNA, as potential dissidents.<ref name=Kriger/> Detention by the 5th Brigade was arbitrary and extrajudicial killings of ZIPRA veterans became frequent.<ref name=Meredith/>

The 5th Brigade imposed a curfew in Matabeleland North, banned the movement of civilians within the operational area, and closed the majority of local businesses.<ref name=Meredith/> Its constituent battalions rounded up all the residents of a specific district and marched them to central locations, where they were collectively interrogated on dissident activity.<ref name=Meredith/> The 5th Brigade also conducted house to house searches in [[Bulawayo]] for deserters and arms caches.<ref name=Meredith/> In an attempt to isolate the civilian population from the dissidents, the brigade relocated a number of rural dwellers to police outposts, mining compounds, and old Rhodesian military bases repurposed into makeshift detention camps.<ref name="Cry">{{cite book|title=Cry Zimbabwe: Independence – Twenty Years On|last=Stiff|first=Peter|location=Johannesburg|publisher=Galago Publishing|date=June 2000|isbn=978-1919854021|pages=214–215}}</ref> Conditions in the camps quickly deteriorated due to overcrowded and inadequate facilities.<ref name="Cry"/>

==Allegations of politicisation==
The 5th Brigade has been frequently criticised for its apparent political nature. Responding to an inquiry about North Korea's role in the unit's formation, then-Prime Minister Mugabe simply stated that "they were trained by the North Koreans because we wanted one arm of the army to have a political orientation which stems from our philosophy as [[ZANU-PF]]".<ref name=Meredith/> Zimbabwean Minister of Home Affairs and chief opposition figure [[Joshua Nkomo]] denounced the formation of the 5th Brigade as being politically motivated; he believed Mugabe was using the unit to intimidate his opponents and secure the forcible implementation of a ''de facto'' one-party state.<ref name=Demob/> Historian [[Paul Moorcraft]] claimed the 5th Brigade was "marked by its fanatical ideological loyalty to Mugabe...[it] was run from the prime minister's office and was answerable only to Mugabe".<ref name=Demob/> Another historian and noted sociologist, [[Ronald Weitzer]], found that the 5th Brigade was perceived as being "highly politicised and loyal to the government, poorly led, and palpably anti-Ndebele".<ref name="Weitzer">{{cite book|last=Weitzer|first=Ronald|title=Transforming Settler States: Communal Conflict and Internal Security in Northern Ireland and Zimbabwe|date=1990|pages=177–179|publisher=[[University of California Press]]|location=Berkeley|isbn=978-0520064904}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
<references/>
<references/>

==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.boell.de/weltweit/afrika/afrika-2482.html History of Matabeleland including the actions of the Fifth Brigade there]
*[http://www.boell.de/weltweit/afrika/afrika-2482.html History of Matabeleland including the actions of the Fifth Brigade there]
*Some of the material here is drawn from a report compiled by the Legal Resources Foundation (LRF) and the [[Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe]] (CCJP) entitled [https://web.archive.org/web/20050214201225/http://www.hrforumzim.com/members_reports/matrep/matrepsumm.htm "Breaking the Silence, Building True Peace. A report on the disturbances in Matabeleland and the Midlands 1980&nbsp;– 1989"].
*Some of the material here is drawn from a report compiled by the Legal Resources Foundation (LRF) and the [[Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe]] (CCJP) entitled [https://web.archive.org/web/20050214201225/http://www.hrforumzim.com/members_reports/matrep/matrepsumm.htm "Breaking the Silence, Building True Peace. A report on the disturbances in Matabeleland and the Midlands 1980&nbsp;– 1989"].
*[http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-04-24-zimbabwe-what-britain-and-the-west-did-and-didnt-do-during-the-matabeleland-massacres-of-1983-4/ Zimbabwe: What Britain and the West did – and didn’t – do during the Matabeleland massacres of 1983-4]
*[http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-04-24-zimbabwe-what-britain-and-the-west-did-and-didnt-do-during-the-matabeleland-massacres-of-1983-4/ Zimbabwe: What Britain and the West did – and didn't – do during the Matabeleland massacres of 1983-4]
*Institute for Security Studies, [https://www.issafrica.org/pubs/monographs/No80/Chap1.pdf Demobilisation and Reintegration]{{Dead link|date=April 2017}}
*Institute for Security Studies, [https://www.issafrica.org/pubs/monographs/No80/Chap1.pdf Demobilisation and Reintegration]{{Dead link|date=April 2017}}
*Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni, [https://oldsite.issafrica.org/uploads/OURSELVESNDLOVU.PDF The post-colonial state and Matebeleland: Regional perceptions of civil-military relations, 1980–2002]
*Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni, [https://oldsite.issafrica.org/uploads/OURSELVESNDLOVU.PDF The post-colonial state and Matebeleland: Regional perceptions of civil-military relations, 1980–2002] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200915134731/https://oldsite.issafrica.org/uploads/OURSELVESNDLOVU.PDF |date=2020-09-15 }}


{{Military of Zimbabwe}}
{{Military of Zimbabwe}}
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[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1988]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 2006]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 2006]]
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[[Category:Military units and formations of Zimbabwe]]
[[Category:Military units and formations of Zimbabwe]]
[[Category:Military units and formations of the Cold War]]
[[Category:Military units and formations of the Cold War]]

Latest revision as of 14:00, 18 June 2024

5th Brigade
Active1981–present[1]
Country Zimbabwe
Branch Zimbabwe National Army
TypeInfantry brigade[1]
RoleCounter-insurgency[2]
SizeBrigade
Garrison/HQGweru, Zimbabwe[1]
Nickname(s)Gukurahundi[3]
EngagementsGukurahundi campaign
Mozambican Civil War
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Perrance Shiri[2]

The 5th Brigade is an infantry brigade of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA). The 5th Brigade was created in 1981 from three former battalions of the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA).[1] It later incorporated over 3,000 ex-ZANLA guerrillas from various units.[1] The brigade was based in Gweru and participated in the Mozambican Civil War[2] as well as a genocide known as the Gukurahundi which targeted Ndebele civilians and Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) guerrillas.[4]

The 5th Brigade was reactivated in 2006 following a prolonged period of inactivity.[5]

Organization

[edit]

The 5th Brigade was subordinate only to the Chief of the Zimbabwe National Army.[1] In 1983, it consisted of five infantry battalions as well as an armoured company equipped with T-54 tanks.[1] The brigade was at least partly mechanised and possessed a number of BTR-152 armoured personnel carriers.[1]

History

[edit]

The Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) was created in 1980 through the amalgamation of the former Rhodesian Army with the militant wings of two rival guerrilla organisations: the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) and the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA).[1] To ease the integration process, large numbers of former Rhodesian servicemen and guerrillas were demobilised and the remaining troops interspersed throughout new units.[1] By 1981, the bulk of the ZNA's manpower was concentrated in thirty-seven new light infantry battalions composed of about 37,000 personnel, almost all of whom were former ZANLA and ZIPRA guerrillas.[1] The battalions were to be trained by a combination of British and former Rhodesian military instructors.[1] Guerrillas from both sides resisted integration by establishing separate camps.[3]

The infantry battalions were almost immediately wracked by inter-factional skirmishes in 1980 and again in 1981.[3] Zimbabwean prime minister Robert Mugabe and his government responded by disbanding three battalions and reorganising the remainder into four brigades.[1] All former guerrillas awaiting integration with their new units were to be disarmed en masse.[3] Upon learning of this policy, some former ZIPRA personnel began to desert the army, taking their weapons with them.[3] They complained that the disarmament campaign targeted them unfairly and was being used to buttress the military influence of ex-ZANLA troops at their expense.[3] Mutinies by ZIPRA elements in the ZNA became notorious.[3] In 1982 there were several hundred disgruntled and otherwise unemployed ZIPRA fighters at large in the provinces of Matabeleland South and Matabeleland North, many of whom had resorted to armed banditry.[6] The Zimbabwean government referred to the ex-ZIPRA deserters simply as "dissidents".[6]

In the wake of escalating dissident activity, Mugabe announced his intention to form a fifth infantry brigade composed solely of ex-ZANLA troops.[1] In August 1981, two existing ZANLA battalions and an additional 3,000 ZANLA guerrillas from various units were selected for training in the new 5th Brigade.[1] The officers were largely drawn from ex-ZANLA officer candidates whose poor educational qualifications had resulted in their failing standardised officer school.[7] A smaller number of ex-ZIPRA officers from 4th Brigade were also transferred to the 5th Brigade to serve in various technical and specialist roles.[7]

Unlike the ZNA's other four brigades, this unit was to be armed and trained by a special North Korean military mission, which was chosen to train the newly-formed brigade because of Mugabe's admiration for North Korea's dictatorial regime.[8][2] The 5th Brigade was not structured for conventional military operations but rather as a specialized counter-insurgency unit.[2] Ex-ZIPRA and Rhodesian troops resented the brigade for its apparent exclusiveness and the fact that it was permitted to operate independently from the ZNA's normal command structure, being subordinate only to the Chief of the Army.[1] The 5th Brigade was trained from August 1981, when the first North Korean military advisers arrived in Zimbabwe,[8] to June 1982 at Inyanga, an isolated mountain base near the Zimbabwean-Mozambican border.[1] It was then moved to its permanent base in Gweru.[1]

At the time of its formation, the 5th Brigade was the ZNA's only mechanised infantry brigade, and most of its arsenal—including T-54 tanks, BTR-152 armoured personnel carriers, BRDM-2 scout cars, towed anti-tank artillery, and multiple rocket launchers, far exceeded the capabilities of ground weapons in the other four brigades' inventories.[1] However, serious practical difficulties also resulted in the brigade's use of unique codes and radio equipment which were otherwise incompatible with those of other army units.[9]

Mozambican Civil War

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The 5th Brigade was one of the first ZNA units to be deployed into Mozambique during the Mozambican Civil War.[10] In mid-1982 the brigade was deployed to defend a strategic rail line from Beira to the Zimbabwean border from sabotage attempts by the Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO).[10] Counteroffensives against RENAMO were jointly planned at the command level by Zimbabwean, Mozambican, and North Korean officers.[10]

Tensions with ex-ZIPRA forces

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The 5th Brigade's independent nature soon placed it at sometimes violent odds with other brigades of the ZNA.[7] In September 1982, some of its personnel fired on ex-ZIPRA troops serving in the 4th Brigade.[7] This prompted a mass exodus of former ZIPRA personnel from 4th Brigade, which was forced to disband four of its battalions due to the loss of personnel to desertion.[7]

In December 1982, the 5th Brigade dismissed all its ex-ZIPRA officers.[7] Ex-ZIPRA personnel accused the 5th Brigade of purposefully instigating tensions between the factional elements in the other four brigades.[7]

Anti-dissident operations

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Main article: Gukurahundi

In January 1983 the 5th Brigade was deployed into Matabeleland North with the objective of eliminating the local dissidents.[9] Its anti-dissident campaign was known simply as Gukurahundi, a Shona language term defined as "the rain which blows away the chaff before spring".[9] The word had been also been applied to ZANLA mobilization tactics during the Rhodesian Bush War in 1979.[9] Prime Minister Mugabe had bestowed the nickname Gukurahundi to the brigade in December 1982 and it figured prominently in the 5th Brigade's emblems and standards.[9]

The Zimbabwean government provided the 5th Brigade with meticulous records of ex-ZIPRA deserters and demobilized ZIPRA personnel, who were to be detained for questioning.[9] While the brigade's directives specified a search for ex-ZIPRA guerrillas, it failed to differentiate between those affiliated with ZIPRA and the same movement's political wing, the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU).[7] Prior to the deployment, this attitude had been reinforced by the alleged discovery of arms on several ZAPU properties, leading to the mass dismissal of ZAPU officials from the government and the arrest of senior ex-ZIPRA army officers.[3] In March 1983, 5th Brigade troops ransacked the home of ZAPU chairman Joshua Nkomo, shooting three of his domestic staff during the raid.[9] The 5th Brigade's commander, Perrance Shiri, perceived all ex-ZIPRA troops, including those employed in the civil service or the ZNA, as potential dissidents.[7] Detention by the 5th Brigade was arbitrary and extrajudicial killings of ZIPRA veterans became frequent.[9]

The 5th Brigade imposed a curfew in Matabeleland North, banned the movement of civilians within the operational area, and closed the majority of local businesses.[9] Its constituent battalions rounded up all the residents of a specific district and marched them to central locations, where they were collectively interrogated on dissident activity.[9] The 5th Brigade also conducted house to house searches in Bulawayo for deserters and arms caches.[9] In an attempt to isolate the civilian population from the dissidents, the brigade relocated a number of rural dwellers to police outposts, mining compounds, and old Rhodesian military bases repurposed into makeshift detention camps.[11] Conditions in the camps quickly deteriorated due to overcrowded and inadequate facilities.[11]

Allegations of politicisation

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The 5th Brigade has been frequently criticised for its apparent political nature. Responding to an inquiry about North Korea's role in the unit's formation, then-Prime Minister Mugabe simply stated that "they were trained by the North Koreans because we wanted one arm of the army to have a political orientation which stems from our philosophy as ZANU-PF".[9] Zimbabwean Minister of Home Affairs and chief opposition figure Joshua Nkomo denounced the formation of the 5th Brigade as being politically motivated; he believed Mugabe was using the unit to intimidate his opponents and secure the forcible implementation of a de facto one-party state.[3] Historian Paul Moorcraft claimed the 5th Brigade was "marked by its fanatical ideological loyalty to Mugabe...[it] was run from the prime minister's office and was answerable only to Mugabe".[3] Another historian and noted sociologist, Ronald Weitzer, found that the 5th Brigade was perceived as being "highly politicised and loyal to the government, poorly led, and palpably anti-Ndebele".[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Nelson, Harold D, ed. (1983). Zimbabwe, a Country Study. Area Handbook Series (Second ed.). Washington, D.C.: Department of the Army, American University. pp. 263–272. OCLC 227599708.
  2. ^ a b c d e Bermudez, Joseph (1998). North Korean Special Forces. Philadelphia: United States Naval Institute. p. 144. ISBN 978-1557500663.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Dzinesa, Gwinyayi (2017). Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration in Southern Africa: Swords into Ploughshares?. Basingstoke: Palgrave-Macmillan. pp. 45–48. ISBN 978-3319605487.
  4. ^ Moore, Alexandra (1997). Vulnerability and Security in Human Rights Literature and Visual Culture. Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge Books. pp. 70–77. ISBN 978-1138860278.
  5. ^ http://www.zimbabwedefence.com/News_51_Gets_Comm.html Archived 2008-04-08 at the Wayback Machine, accessed March 2009
  6. ^ a b Howe, Herbert (2004). Ambiguous Order: Military Forces in African States. Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner, Publishers. p. 38. ISBN 978-1588263155.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Kriger, Norma (2003). Guerrilla Veterans in Post-War Zimbabwe: Symbolic and Violent Politics, 1980-1987. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 31, 128–135, 247. ISBN 978-0521818230.
  8. ^ a b Choi, Lyong; Jeong, Il-young (22 June 2017). "North Korea and Zimbabwe, 1978–1982: from the strategic alliance to the symbolic comradeship between Kim Il Sung and Robert Mugabe". Cold War History. 17 (4): 329–349. doi:10.1080/14682745.2017.1328406. S2CID 157656488. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Meredith, Martin (September 2007) [2002]. Mugabe: Power, Plunder and the Struggle for Zimbabwe. New York: PublicAffairs. pp. 65–72. ISBN 978-1-58648-558-0.
  10. ^ a b c Bermudez, Joseph (1997). Terrorism, the North Korean connection. New York: Crane, Russak & Company. p. 124. ISBN 978-0844816104.
  11. ^ a b Stiff, Peter (June 2000). Cry Zimbabwe: Independence – Twenty Years On. Johannesburg: Galago Publishing. pp. 214–215. ISBN 978-1919854021.
  12. ^ Weitzer, Ronald (1990). Transforming Settler States: Communal Conflict and Internal Security in Northern Ireland and Zimbabwe. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 177–179. ISBN 978-0520064904.
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