THE CONGO ROUND 3 ? THE SOUND OF CHRISTMAS IN KATANGA PROVINCE 
WAS THE THUNK OF MORTAR SHELLS AND THE RATTLE OF MACHINE 
GUNS . AFTER AN UNEASY TWELVE-MONTH TRUCE BETWEEN U.N . FORCES 
AND THE TROOPS OF KATANGA'S SECESSIONIST MOISE TSHOMBE, A FEW MINOR 
INCIDENTS GOT OUT OF HAND, AND FOR THE THIRD TIME SINCE 
SEPTEMBER 1961 THE PROVINCE WAS IN TURMOIL . BLUE-HELMETED U.N . 
SOLDIERS SWARMED THROUGH ELISABETHVILLE, SEIZED ROADBLOCKS ON THE HIGHWAYS . SWEDISH 
U.N . SAAB JETS SWOOPED LOW OVER KATANGA'S AIRFIELD AT KOLWEZI, 
DESTROYING FOUR PLANES ON THE GROUND AND SETTING OIL TANKS ABLAZE 
. IN THE FIRST SKIRMISHES, SEVEN U.N . SOLDIERS WERE DEAD 
. THE FIGHTING BEGAN WITH WHAT ELISABETHVILLE RESIDENTS CALL " L'AFFAIRE 
SIMBA " A REFERENCE TO SIMBA BEER, THE LOCAL BREW THAT 
BOTH SIDES GUZZLED ON AND OFF DUTY . AS THE U.N 
. TOLD IT, BOOZED-UP KATANGESE GENDARMES SUDDENLY OPENED FIRE ON A 
DETACHMENT OF ETHIOPIAN U.N . TROOPS IN SUBURBAN LUBUMBASHI . AS 
TSHOMBE DESCRIBED MATTERS, A FEW TIPSY ETHIOPIANS STARTED THE SHOOTING BY 
SCRAMBLING ATOP A 200-FT . SLAG HEAP OUTSIDE THE BIG UNION 
MINIERE PLANT AND TAKING POTSHOTS AT THE KATANGESE . FIREWORKS NEXT 
. IN ANY CASE, KATANGESE SOLDIERS AT A GOLF COURSE ON 
THE OUTSKIRTS OF ELISABETHVILLE TOOK THE OCCASION TO SHOOT DOWN AN 
UNARMED U.N . HELICOPTER MOVING OVERHEAD . THEY STONED THE SIX 
SURVIVING CREWMEN, PUMMELED THEM WITH RIFLE BUTTS ; A 23-YEAR-OLD SIKH 
LIEUTENANT, WHO LAY HELPLESS WITH A MACHINE GUN SLUG IN THE 
ABDOMEN, DIED UNATTENDED IN THREE HOURS . INDIAN BRIGADIER REGINALD NORONHA, 
COMMANDER OF U.N . TROOPS IN KATANGA'S CAPITAL, WAS FURIOUS THIS 
IS THE LAST TIME, HE SAID . " NEXT TIME THERE 
ARE GOING TO BE FIREWORKS . " NORONHA DID NOT HAVE 
LONG TO WAIT . THREE DAYS LATER AN ETHIOPIAN GUARD FIRED 
A WARNING SHOT AT A KATANGESE SOLDIER WHO WAS APPROACHING HIS 
POST . UNHURT, THE KATANGESE ROLLED DOWN A HILL IN SEARCH 
OF COVER, BUT HIS COMRADES THOUGHT HE HAD BEEN HIT AND 
OPENED FIRE . SOON U.N . POSITIONS AROUND THE CITY WERE 
UNDER ATTACK . TSHOMBE " AGREED " TO A CEASE-FIRE, BUT 
HIS 20,000 MEN KEPT RIGHT ON FIGHTING . " THEY ARE 
MAD, " SAID A RED CROSS OFFICIAL WHO SAW THEM RAMPAGING 
THROUGH A TOWNSHIP, FIRING AT ANYTHING THAT MOVED . " THEY 
ARE KILLING THEIR OWN MEN . " THE U.N . CLAIMED 
TSHOMBE HAD LOST CONTROL OF HIS MEN WHICH GAVE IT AN 
EXCUSE TO STRIKE BACK . FROM MANHATTAN U.N . HEADQUARTERS, ORDERS 
WERE FLASHED TO THE 12,000-MAN U.N . FORCE IN KATANGA : 
" TAKE ALL NECESSARY ACTION IN SELF-DEFENSE AND TO RESTORE ORDER 
. " SPEARHEADED BY 5,700 TOUGH, BITTER GURKHAS, THE U.N . 
FORCE METHODICALLY SWEPT DISORGANIZED KATANGESE TROOPS FROM THEIR GUARDPOSTS ON THE 
ROAD TO NORTHERN RHODESIA . POWER LINES FELL IN THE FRAY, 
LEAVING SHABBY LITTLE ELISABETHVILLE (POP . 180,000) WITHOUT LIGHT, WATER OR 
PHONES . SPEARS & ARROWS . NORONHA DEMANDED ONCE MORE THAT 
TSHOMBE CALL A CEASEFIRE, WARNED THAT UNLESS HE COMPLIED IN 30 
MINUTES, " A GENERAL WAR WILL BEGIN . " TSHOMBE REJECTED 
THE ULTIMATUM, AND THE U.N . WENT OVER TO AN ALL-OUT 
AIR AND GROUND OFFENSIVE . THE INDIAN BRIGADE STORMED AND CAPTURED 
THE HEADQUARTERS OF KATANGA'S GENDARMERIE AT KARAVIA, A MILE FROM ELISABETHVILLE, 
WITH LITTLE RESISTANCE . ANOTHER COLUMN OF TROOPS ADVANCED NORTHWEST TOWARD 
JADOTVILLE, IN THE HEART OF THE COPPER BELT THAT GIVES TSHOMBE 
$40 MILLION A YEAR IN REVENUES . U.N . FORCES ANNOUNCED 
THAT THEY HAD TAKEN OVER ELISABETHVILLE'S POST OFFICE, RADIO STATION AND 
RAILWAY DEPOT AND HAD OCCUPIED TSHOMBE'S PALACE . AT THE HEIGHT 
OF THE SHOOTING, TSHOMBE VANISHED INTO HIDING, BUT HE WAS NOT 
CALLING IT QUITS . " EVERYWHERE, THE U.N . AND ITS 
TROOPS WILL BE FOUGHT WITH TRAPS, WITH POISONED ARROWS AND SPEARS, 
" HE SAID IN AN ANGRY STATEMENT THROUGH ONE OF HIS 
AIDES . " WE WILL RESIST BY ALL MEANS, INCLUDING THE 
TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF ALL OUR ECONOMIC POTENTIAL . " WAS THIS 
THE FINAL SHOWDOWN IN THE U.N.'S 2F-YEAR ATTEMPT TO END KATANGA'S 
SECESSION FROM THE CONGO ? U.N . SPOKESMEN INSISTED THAT IT 
WAS NOT, BUT SECRETARY-GENERAL U THANT SAYS HE IS CONVINCED THAT 
UNLESS TSHOMBE IS SUBDUED SOON, PREMIER CYRILLE ADOULA'S CENTRAL GOVERNMENT IN 
LEOPOLDVILLE WILL COLLAPSE . THE U.S . AGREES, AND THE STATE 
DEPARTMENT RECENTLY HAS BEEN TALKING UP THE IMMINENT DANGER OF A 
LEFTIST, SOVIET-BACKED TAKEOVER IN LEOPOLDVILLE . BUT THE BRITISH, WHO SEE 
KATANGA AS A STABLE BUFFER FOR THE RHODESIAS, WARNED AGAINST THE 
" FUTILITY OF TRYING TO IMPOSE A POLITICAL SETTLEMENT BY FORCE 
. " THE FRENCH, WHO, LIKE THE BRITISH, HAVE HEAVY INVESTMENTS 
IN THE UNION MINIERE, WANT HANDS OFF, AND IN BRUSSELS, 200 
BELGIANS DEMONSTRATED THEIR FEELINGS BY MARCHING ON THE U.S . EMBASSY 
SHOUTING, " DOWN WITH KENNEDY ! 