The early 1960s was a time of conflict in the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo. Belgium’s abrupt decolonization threw the country into chaos, and United Nations peacekeepers were called in when the province of Katanga seceded.

On this day in 1961, the UN peacekeepers launched a military operation to gain strategic positions around Elisabethville (now Lubumbashi) after Katangan rebels attempted to isolate UN troops from each other.

You can read on at the link to learn more about the Congo Crisis and to learn about the evacuations from Elisabethville that took place when the military operation started.

In 1960, the then Republic of the Congo (later the Democratic Republic of the Congo) gained its independence from Belgium. Shortly afterwards, Moise Tshombe, a politician, declared the southernmost province of the new country to be independent, creating the nation of Katanga.

Katanga had a wealth of natural resources, including copper, so nations like France, Britain, and Belgium turned a blind eye in order to benefit from trade with the new nation.

To learn more about this secession, and how it later failed, read on at the link.