United Nations Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG)
- Duration
- 23 March 1989 - 11 April 1990
- Military personnel
- 89
- Fatalities
- none
- Decorations
- none
In 1920, the League of Nations granted South Africa the mandate over the former German colony of South-West Africa. South Africa thereafter tried persistently to annex South-West Africa as a province. In 1966, the General Assembly therefore revoked South Africa’s mandate over South-West Africa, which had by then been renamed Namibia.
Independence movement
In the meantime, the freedom movement in this region, the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO), had been violently resisting South Africa’s constant attempts at annexation. The battle between South Africa and SWAPO thus flared up in the first half of the 1980s, even more so because Namibia was being dragged into the struggle between the major powers for supremacy in southern Africa. Cuban troops in Angola, for example, began to provide support for SWAPO, who already had training camps and operating bases in that country.
Establishment of UNTAG
In December 1988, South Africa, Angola and Cuba signed an agreement calling for the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola. South Africa would then withdraw from Namibia. The UN Security Council dusted off an old plan (1978) for the establishment of the United Nations Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG). UNTAG was given 12 months to support Namibia along the path towards free elections and independence. The peace force ultimately had 1,500 police observers (civilian police: CIVPOL), 4,500 military personnel and 2,000 civilians.