Niemba ambush

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Niemba ambush
Part of the Congo Crisis
Niemba Niemba ambush (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Date 8 November 1960 Location Niemba, Katanga Result Luba victory
Belligerents
ONUC  Ireland	Luba militia
Commanders and leaders
Kevin Gleeson †	Unknown
Strength
11 men	~100 men
Casualties and losses
9 killed 1 wounded	25 killed Unknown wounded

The Niemba ambush took place on 8 November 1960,^[1] when an Irish Army patrol in Congo-Léopoldville was ambushed, the first time the Irish Army was embroiled in battle since the 1922-23 Irish Civil War. Ireland had deployed troops as United Nations Operation in the Congo (ONUC) peacekeepers.

The notoriety of the attack, and the allegations of mutilation and cannibalism that circulated in the Irish popular press in its aftermath, led to the word "baluba" becoming a synonym for any "untrustworthy and barbaric" person in certain parts of Ireland.

However, the ambush was largely the result of mistaken identity. The Luba tribesmen seem to have mistaken the Irish UN troops for European mercenaries in the service of the State of Katanga, with whom they had recently been in conflict, the Baluba being opposed to Katangese secession. The Irish were part of a UN contingent that was sent to halt the Katangese secession from the Congo.^[2]