Operation Dragon Rouge

Operation Dragon Rouge
Part of the Simba Rebellion and the Congo Crisis
A Belgian paratrooper in a staged photo near the bodies of massacred hostages
Date 24–27 November 1964 Location Stanleyville, Congo-Léopoldville (modern-day Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo) Result Operation successful; most hostages rescued
Belligerents
Congo-Léopoldville  Belgium  United States	Simba rebels
Commanders and leaders
Charles Laurent George Fisher	Christophe Gbenye
Units involved
1st Parachute Battalion 322nd Air Division	Unknown
Strength
350 paratroopers 5 C-130 transport aircraft	300-500 Simbas
c.1,800 Belgian and other European hostages
Casualties and losses
2 killed, 12 wounded	Unknown
24 hostages killed

Operation Dragon Rouge (French: Opération Dragon rouge, Dutch: Operatie Rode Draak) was a hostage rescue operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo conducted by Belgium and the United States in 1964. The operation, relying heavily on paratroopers from the Belgian Paracommando Regiment, aimed to retrieve hostages held by Communist Simba rebels in Stanleyville (modern-day Kisangani).

By 1964, the Léopoldville government, supported by Western powers, was gaining a foothold in its fight to suppress the communist-backed Simba rebellion. Fearing an inevitable defeat, the rebels resorted to taking hostages of the local white population in areas under their control. Several hundred hostages were taken to Stanleyville and placed under guard in the Victoria Hotel.

The Léopoldville government turned to Belgium and the United States for help. In response, the Belgian army sent a task force to Léopoldville, airlifted by the U.S. Air Force 322nd Air Division. Washington and Brussels worked jointly on a rescue plan. Several ideas were considered and discarded, and all attempts at negotiating with the Simbas had failed.

The Belgian task force was led by Col. Charles Laurent. On 24 November 1964, five American C-130 Hercules planes dropped 350 Belgian paratroopers of the Paracommando Regiment onto the airfield at Stanleyville. Once the paratroopers had secured the airfield and cleared the runway they made their way to the Victoria Hotel, prevented Simbas from killing most of the 60 hostages, and evacuated them via the airfield. Over the next two days over 1,800 American, Belgian and other European civilians were evacuated as well as around 400 Congolese civilians. Almost 200 foreigners and thousands of Congolese were executed by the Simbas before and after the raid.

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