Operation Unokat, also styled Operation UNOKAT, was an offensive undertaken by United Nations peacekeeping forces from 5 to 21 December 1961 against the gendarmerie of the State of Katanga, a secessionist state rebelling against the Republic of the Congo in Central Africa. The United Nations had tried several times to reconcile the government of the Congo with the State of Katanga, which had declared independence under Moïse Tshombe with Belgian support in 1960.
Irish ONUC troops man a position over a road into Élisabethville during Operation Unokat
A Ferret armoured car formerly operated by the Malayan ONUC contingent, salvaged at Kalemie in 2016
UN Canberra bomber in action over Elisabethville
Photo of damage to the hospital at Shinkolobwe inflicted during the fighting, published in a pamphlet issued by the Katangese government
United Nations Operation in the Congo
The United Nations Operation in the Congo was a United Nations peacekeeping force which was deployed in the Republic of the Congo in 1960 in response to the Congo Crisis. The ONUC was the UN's first peacekeeping mission with significant military capability, and remains one of the largest UN operations in size and scope.
Swedish ONUC peacekeeper in the Congo
United Nations peacekeeping forces from Iran, the Philippines and Sweden at Kamina Air Base in January 1963
Swedish troops plan offensive actions for Operation Grandslam
Swedish UN soldiers armed with submachine guns at an access road to Niemba in November 1961
