# Operation Morthor in Katanga (13 September 1961)

URL: https://allhistories.com/drcongo/timeline/1961-operation-morthor-in-katanga
Location: Elisabethville (Lubumbashi) and Jadotville (Likasi)
Themes: battle

At dawn on 13 September 1961 UN troops under Conor Cruise O'Brien and Indian and Irish units began Operation Morthor in Elisabethville, seizing key buildings and arresting foreign officers and officials after a UN resolution authorised removal of mercenaries. Katangese gendarmes and white mercenaries resisted. Irish soldiers were besieged in Jadotville, where their company of about 150 surrendered on 17 September after days of fighting. Operation Morthor failed because the Katangese force proved stronger than expected, Tshombe escaped, and Belgian and British governments criticised the action. The Security Council debate and Hammarskjold's attempt to meet Tshombe in Northern Rhodesia led to the plane crash at Ndola four days later. A cease-fire was agreed on 21 September, and the UN sought a political settlement. Katangese leaders denied any role in the crash. At the date of this event the principal authority over the largest part of present-day DR Congo, by the convention of this dataset, lay with Joseph Kasa-Vubu, president of the Republic of the Congo (1960–1965). The government was headed by Prime Minister Cyrille Adoula. Morthor demonstrated the risks of a peacekeeping force attempting enforcement without sufficient strength. It also led to a political crisis at the UN and to the unexpected death of its secretary-general. The affair damaged Irish, Swedish and Indian peacekeepers' morale, and the siege of Jadotville was later recognised as a significant episode in Irish military history.

## Why it matters
A failed UN attempt to arrest mercenaries in Elisabethville led to Jadotville and Hammarskjold's final flight.

Ruler at the Time: [Joseph Kasa-Vubu](https://allhistories.com/drcongo/rulers/joseph-kasa-vubu)

Prime Minister of the Congo: Cyrille Adoula

## Sources
- [Operation Morthor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Morthor)
- [Congo Crisis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congo_Crisis)
- [Siege of Jadotville](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Jadotville)