Operation Hooper

Operation Hooper
Part of the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale
Cuito Cuanavale Operation Hooper (Angola)
Location Cuito Cuanavale, Angola Result Inconclusive
Belligerents
South Africa South African Defence Force UNITA	MPLA People's Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola Cuba
Commanders and leaders
Col. Deon Ferreira Unknown	Unknown Unknown
Units involved
61 Mechanised Battalion & 62 Mechanised Battalion Group (4 SAI)	21 Brigade 25 Brigade 59 Brigade
Strength
2,000 24 tanks	unknown
Casualties and losses
South Africa: 8 killed 22 wounded 3+ armoured vehicles damaged UNITA: 4+ killed 18 wounded	FAPLA: 150 killed/captured 33 tanks destroyed 11+ armoured vehicles destroyed Cuba: 42+ killed

Operation Hooper was a military operation in 1987-88 by the South African Defence Force (SADF) during the South African Border War. This operation forms part of what has come to be called the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale. The Cubans' objective was securing the town of Cuito Cuanavale on the west of the river from capture. The SADF objective was to drive the People's Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA) west across the river or to destroy them, so as to ensure that FAPLA was no longer a threat to the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) in the south-east. The FAPLA advance was permanently halted, UNITA lived to fight on for another 15 years. The SADF never attempted to capture the town. Both sides claimed victory.