Editing Zambian Defence Force (section)

===Involvement in regional conflicts, 1968–80===
During the 1970s, Zambia began providing sanctuary for a number of revolutionary and militant political movements dedicated to overthrowing colonial and white minority rule elsewhere on the African continent.<ref name=Hughes>{{cite book|last=Hughes|first=Geraint|title=My Enemy's Enemy: Proxy Warfare in International Politics|date=2014|pages=45–53|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|location=Brighton|isbn=978-1845196271}}</ref> Guerrilla armies based in exile in Zambia included the [[People's Liberation Army of Namibia]] (PLAN)<ref name=covert/> and the [[Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army]] (ZIPRA).<ref name=Hughes/> These movements ultimately embroiled the ZDF in their own internal power struggles<ref name=Chesterman>{{cite book|last=Lamb|first=Guy|editor-last=Chesterman|editor-first=Simon|title=Civilians in War|date=2001|pages=[https://archive.org/details/civiliansinwar0000unse/page/322 322–342]|publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers, Incorporated|location=Boulder, Colorado|isbn=978-1555879884|url=https://archive.org/details/civiliansinwar0000unse/page/322}}</ref> as well as direct clashes with foreign troops carrying out preemptive strikes.<ref name=Hughes/> In 1968, the ZDF skirmished with Portuguese troops which had pursued a number of Angolan or Mozambican insurgents into Zambia.<ref name=Tordoff/> In September 1975, Zambian troops became locked in a firefight with [[Insurgency|insurgents]] of the [[Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army]] (ZANLA).<ref name="ZANLA">{{cite book |title=Ending civil war: Rhodesia and Lebanon in perspective |last=Preston |first=Matthew |location=London |publisher=[[I.B. Tauris]] |date=September 2004 |isbn=1-85043-579-0 |page=124}}</ref> The ZDF killed eleven ZANLA insurgents and later expelled that movement from Zambian soil.<ref name="ZANLA"/> A year later, nearly two thousand<ref name="Frontiersmen">{{cite book|title=Frontiersmen: Warfare in Africa since 1950|url=https://archive.org/details/frontiersmenwarf00clay|url-access=limited|last=Clayton|first=Anthony|location=Philadelphia|publisher=UCL Press, Limited|date=1999|isbn=978-1857285253|pages=[https://archive.org/details/frontiersmenwarf00clay/page/n144 119]–124}}</ref> disaffected PLAN insurgents in Zambia launched a mutiny which became known as the "Shipanga Affair".<ref name="Sellström">{{cite book|last=Sellström|first=Tor|url=http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:nai:diva-204|title=Sweden and National Liberation in Southern Africa: Vol. 2 : Solidarity and assistance, 1970–1994|date=2002|publisher=Nordic Africa Institute|isbn=978-91-7106-448-6|location=Uppsala|pages=308–310}}</ref> The army was forced to marshal several battalions to subdue the dissidents.<ref name=Chesterman/>

In response to Zambia's increasingly open support for PLAN, South Africa sponsored a force of [[Kaonde language|Kaonde]]-speaking dissidents under [[Adamson Mushala]], known as the Zambian Democratic Supreme Council (DSC).<ref name="Zambian">{{cite book|title=Rethinking African Politics: A History of Opposition in Zambia|last=Larmer|first=Miles|year=2011|location=Surrey|publisher=Ashgate Publishing Ltd|isbn=978-1409482499|pages=148–153}}</ref> The DSC maintained a low level insurgency in Zambia's [[North-Western Province, Zambia|North-Western]] and [[Western Province, Zambia|Western]] Provinces.<ref name="Beggar">{{cite book|last=Hanlon|first=Joseph|title=Beggar Your Neighbors: Apartheid Power in Southern Africa|date=1986|page=[https://archive.org/details/beggaryourneighb00hanl/page/244 244]|publisher=Indiana University Press|location=Bloomington|isbn=978-0253331311|url=https://archive.org/details/beggaryourneighb00hanl/page/244}}</ref> Mushala's guerrillas sabotaged infrastructure, skirmished with the ZDF, and collected intelligence on PLAN movements inside Zambia.<ref name="Dreyer">{{cite book|title=Namibia and Southern Africa: Regional Dynamics of Decolonization, 1945-90|last=Dreyer|first=Ronald|location=London|publisher=Kegan Paul International|year=1994|isbn=978-0710304711|page=140}}</ref> They were trained by [[South African Special Forces]] and instructors recruited from the Portuguese [[PIDE|Directorate-General of Security]].<ref name=Caprivi>{{cite book|last=Kangumu|first=Bennett|title=Contesting Caprivi: A History of Colonial Isolation and Regional Nationalism in Namibia|date=2011|pages=155–156|publisher=Basler Afrika Bibliographien Namibia Resource Center and Southern Africa Library|location=Basel|isbn=978-3905758221}}</ref> In 1973, an army unit killed a hundred of the guerrillas by ambushing them as they attempted to cross the Zambezi near the Caprivi Strip.<ref name=Caprivi/> Mushala was largely inactive until early 1976, when his guerrillas skirmished twice with the ZDF and hijacked an army payroll.<ref name="Zambian"/>

As a result of the new challenges posed by the Mushala insurgency and the presence of foreign militants, the ZDF underwent an extensive reorganisation and adopted a new unified command structure.<ref name="Command"/> It was renamed the ''Zambian National Defence Force'' (ZNDF) in 1976.<ref name="Command"/> A prevailing feature of the new ZNDF was its adoption of a third branch known as the Zambian National Service.<ref name="Command"/> The objective of the Zambian National Service was to provide basic military instruction to all Zambian citizens in the event they needed to be mobilised as reservists during wartime.<ref name=Ourselves/> The ZNDF became increasingly politicised, with the ruling [[United National Independence Party]] (UNIP) forming party branches in the barracks and introducing a number of political education programs for military personnel.<ref name=Phiri>{{cite book|last=Phiri|first=Bizeck Jube|editor1-last=Cawthra|editor1-first=Gavin|editor2-last=Du Pisani|editor2-first=Andre|editor3-last=Omari|editor3-first=Abillah|title=Security and Democracy in Southern Africa|date=2007|pages=206–220|publisher=University of Witwatersrand Press|location=Johannesburg|isbn=978-1-86814-453-2}}</ref> Under the UNIP, the ZNDF was not subject to public audit or parliamentary oversight.<ref name=Phiri/> This was justified under the pretext that the ZNDF's development was tied to the exigencies of wartime.<ref name=Phiri/>

Between 1977 and 1980 military tension with South Africa and Rhodesia continued to escalate, resulting in a renewed spate of border incidents.<ref name="Africa">{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s_DiAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Zambian+troops%22+%22Rhodesia%22|title=Africa|date=Feb 16, 1977|publisher=Africa Journal, Limited|access-date=Feb 16, 2019|via=Google Books}}</ref> In 1977, the ZNDF bombarded Rhodesian positions near [[Victoria Falls]] with rocket and mortar fire.<ref name="Africa"/> The reasons for the attack were disputed but the Zambian government maintained that the troops involved had been deliberately provoked by Rhodesian forces into firing.<ref name="Africa"/> Around March 1978, the ZNDF claimed to have been involved in repelling a Rhodesian raid on a ZIPRA training camp.<ref name="Raid">{{cite news|title=Rhodesia Mounts Biggest Raid Yet Against Zambia|last=Ottaway|first=David|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/03/08/rhodesia-mounts-biggest-raid-yet-against-zambia/f2499a48-89ce-4c10-a18f-688bf5e31a3e/|newspaper=The Washington Post|location=Washington, D.C.|date=8 March 1978|access-date=30 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180314190702/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/03/08/rhodesia-mounts-biggest-raid-yet-against-zambia/f2499a48-89ce-4c10-a18f-688bf5e31a3e/ |archive-date=14 March 2018}}</ref> It also assisted PLAN insurgents during a raid on a [[Katima Mulilo|South African military base]] in the [[Caprivi Strip]].<ref name=covert/> South Africa retaliated by shelling several ZNDF positions near the border,<ref name="Borderstrike">{{cite book | first = Willem | last = Steenkamp| title = Borderstrike! South Africa Into Angola 1975-1980 | year = 2006|edition= 2006 |pages= 132–226 | publisher = Just Done Productions| isbn= 1-920169-00-8}}</ref> and Rhodesia began targeting ZNDF outposts.<ref name="TDJ">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/154837592/|title=Rhodesia Destroys Zambian Base|work=The Daily Journal|location=Franklin, Indiana|date=31 October 1978|access-date=7 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304055150/https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/154837592/|archive-date=4 March 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Growing Zambian war weariness was a significant factor in Kaunda's influencing the guerrilla movements in Rhodesia to seek peace, resulting in a negotiated end to that conflict.<ref name=Hughes/> Kaunda also bowed to South African pressure and ordered PLAN to close its rear base facilities in Zambia by 1979.<ref name="LM">{{Cite book| title = Still Killing: Landmines in Southern Africa | last = Vines | first = Alex | publisher = Human Rights Watch | location = New York 
 | date = 1997 | isbn = 978-1564322067 | pages = 104–115, 143–144 }}</ref> At the same time, the ZNDF embarked on a 70 million kwacha modernisation program with assistance from the Soviet Union.<ref name=DeRoche>{{cite book|last=DeRoche|first=Andrew|title=Kenneth Kaunda, the United States and Southern Africa|date=2016|pages=322–342|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|location=London|isbn=978-1350054424}}</ref> The Soviets provided the Zambian Army with tanks, wheeled armored vehicles, and technical instruction on especially generous terms; the Zambian Air Force received its first fighter aircraft in the form of a [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21]] squadron at the same time.<ref name=DeRoche/>