Bob Denard: Congo Mercenary

Bob Denard, the famous mercenary hired by Tshombe to fight in Katanga during the 1960s, though afterwards, Bob set his sights on the small island group of the Comoros. Denard was hired by Jacques Foccart (Chief Advisor to the French Presidents on African affairs) to oust the first president, Ahmed Abdallah, who had just unilaterally proclaimed the Comoros' independence on July 6th, 1975 and Ali Soilih came to replace him.

Bob then went on to lead a unit of French soldiers known as 7 Independent Company, to help aid Rhodesia during the Bush War. With support from the Rhodesian government, Denard returned to the Comoros May 13th, 1978 with 43 men and carried out a coup against president Ali Soilih, who had turned toward socialist policies. Soilih was supposedly "shot while trying to escape ".Helped by Denard, Ahmed Abdallah took the presidency back.

For about 11 years (1978-1989), Denard was in charge of Abdallah's 500 man-strong presidential guard. The Comoros would serve as Bob’s primary base for any military operations in Mozambique and Angola. Later on, Bob would even gain support from Paris, since the Comoros could provide France with a base to get around the embargoes imposed on South Africa at the time. Denard had a very prosperous life in the Comoros, he owned hotels, land, and effectively the presidential guard. Author Xavier Renou, who wrote the book Private Military Contractors said that Denard understood and could foresee the transition from traditional mercenaries to a more contemporary private military role, whilst creating a small personal army during his stay in the Comoros during the 1980s. On the night of  September 27th, 1995 Denard launched a fourth coup dubbed Operation Kaskari, in the Comoros.

Denard landed with 33 men in inflatable boats in an attempted coup against president Said Mohamed Djohar, Abdallah's successor. On October 4th, in accordance with an agreement between France and the Comoros, the French army withdrew their support. The French government then sent an expeditionary force to capture Denard and his mercenaries. Despite the fact that Denard had over 300 armed Comorians ready to fight, he surrendered without firing a single shot. Denard was brought back to France by the French DGSE and spent 10 months in a Parisian jail.