Editing Angolan Armed Forces (section)

== Foreign deployments ==
The FAPLA's main counterinsurgency effort was directed against UNITA in the southeast, and its conventional capabilities were demonstrated principally in the undeclared [[South African Border War]].<ref name="ReferenceA">[[Library of Congress Country Studies]]</ref> The FAPLA first performed its external assistance mission with the dispatch of 1,000 to 1,500 troops to [[São Tomé and Príncipe]] in 1977 to bolster the socialist regime of President Manuel Pinto da Costa. During the next several years, Angolan forces conducted joint exercises with their counterparts and exchanged technical operational visits. The Angolan expeditionary force was reduced to about 500 in early 1985.

The Angolan Armed Forces were controversially involved in training the armed forces of fellow [[Lusophone]] states [[Cape Verde]] and Guinea-Bissau. In the case of the latter, the [[2012 Guinea-Bissau coup d'état]] was cited by the coup leaders as due to Angola's involvement in trying to "reform" the military in connivance with the civilian leadership.

Occasionally skirmishes on the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|DRC]]-Angola border happening, sometimes also in connection with the [[Cabinda War|Cabinda conflict]]. In 2020 one Angolan soldier died after a gun battle with congolese forces in [[Kasaï region|Kasai region]] on DRC territory.<ref>{{Cite web |last=AfricaNews |date=2020-07-06 |title=DRC: Angolan soldier killed in Kasai |url=https://www.africanews.com/2020/07/06/drc-angolan-soldier-killed-in-kasai/ |access-date=2022-05-10 |website=Africanews |language=en}}</ref> A presence during the unrest in [[Ivory Coast]], 2010–2011, were not officially confirmed. However, the {{lang|de|[[Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung]]}}, citing ''[[Jeune Afrique]]'', said that among President [[Gbagbo]]'s guards were 92 personnel of President Dos Santos's [[Presidential Guard Unit (Angola)|Presidential Guard Unit]].<ref>[https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ausland/elfenbeinkueste-gbagbos-letzte-trumpfkarte-als-maertyrer-sterben-1628414.html Gbagbos letzte Trumpfkarte: als Märtyrer sterben] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131222102021/https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ausland/elfenbeinkueste-gbagbos-letzte-trumpfkarte-als-maertyrer-sterben-1628414.html |date=December 22, 2013 }}, April 7, 2011</ref> Angola is basically interested in the participation of the FAA operations of the [[African Union]] and has formed special units for this purpose.

In 2021, the Angolan Parliament approved integration of FAA into [[Southern African Development Community]] (SADC)'s mission for peace in [[Insurgency in Cabo Delgado|Cabo Delgado]], Mozambique. Angola sent a team of 20 officers to participate.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Angola to join SADC military mission to Mozambique – Xinhua {{!}} English.news.cn |url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/africa/2021-07/28/c_1310092087.htm |access-date=2022-05-10 |website=www.xinhuanet.com |archive-date=October 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025093503/http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/africa/2021-07/28/c_1310092087.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>