Operation Green Sea
| Operation Green Sea 1970 Portuguese invasion of Guinea | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Guinea-Bissau War of Independence | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
|
Portugal Guinean dissidents |
Guinea PAIGC | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Alpoim Calvão António de Spínola Rebordão de Brito | Lansana Diané | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
220 soldiers 200 dissidents 3 patrol boats 2 landing craft | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
1 soldier killed 7 dissidents killed |
52–500 killed 26 Portuguese prisoners freed 5 supply ships destroyed numerous military/government buildings destroyed | ||||||
Operation Green Sea (Portuguese: Operação Mar Verde), also known as the Battle of Conakry, was an amphibious attack on Conakry, the capital of Guinea, by between 350 and 420 Portuguese soldiers and Portuguese-led Guinean fighters in November 1970. The goals of the operation included the overthrow of Ahmed Sékou Touré's government, capture of the leader of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), Amílcar Cabral, destruction of the naval and air assets of the PAIGC and its Guinean supporters, and the rescue of Portuguese POWs held in Conakry.
The attackers withdrew after rescuing the POWs and destroying some PAIGC ships and Guinean Air Force infrastructure, but failed to capture Amílcar Cabral, the leader of PAIGC guerrillas (who was in Europe at the time), or to topple the regime of Guinean leader Ahmed Sékou Touré.