Battle of Cassinga

SWAPO Base at Cassinga
Battle of Cassinga
	Part of the South African Border War
Date	4 May 1978
Location	Cassinga, Angola Cassinga Battle of Cassinga (Angola)15°7′3″S 16°5′11″E / 15.11750°S 16.08639°E
Result	South African victory
Belligerents
South Africa	SWAPO; Cuba
Commanders and leaders
Constand Viljoen; Ian Gleeson; Jan Breytenbach	Dimo Hamaambo
Units involved
SADF	SWAPO:; Unknown
Strength
370 soldiers; 4 Canberra B-12 bombers; 5 Buccaneer fighters; 4 Mirage III fighters; 4 C-130 Hercules transport planes; 5 Transall C-160 transport planes; 13 Aerospatiale Puma helicopters; 6 Super Frelon helicopters	SWAPO:; 300–600 guerrillas; 2 ZPU-4 AA guns; 1 ZU-23-2 AA gun; 1–2 ZSU AA guns; 3,000–4,000 refugees ; Cuba:; 144–400 soldiers; 4 T-34 tanks; 17 BTR-152 APCs; 7 trucks; 4 AA guns
Casualties and losses
3 killed; 11 wounded; 1 missing	Cuba:; 150 soldiers killed; 3 T-34 destroyed; 17 BTR-152 destroyed; SWAPO:; unknown; 40 captured
	624 dead and 611 wounded in total (Angolan government claim) 582 dead and 400 wounded in total (SWAPO claim)

The Battle of Cassinga also known as the Cassinga Raid or Kassinga Massacre was a controversial South African airborne attack on a South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) military camp at the town of Cassinga, Angola on 4 May 1978. Conducted as one of the three major actions of Operation Reindeer during the South African Border War, it was the South African Army's first major air assault operation.