Sabie checkpoint ambush

Sabie checkpoint ambush Part of Other conflict Aftermath of the attack. Location Sabie, South Africa Date December 9th, 2018. Target South African Army Attack type Terrorist attack Deaths 8 (7 South African soldiers, 1 insurgent) Injured 2 Perpetrators Afrikaner Resistance Movement No. of participants 6 Motive Boer nationalism

The Sabie checkpoint ambush was an attack by the Afrikaner Resistance Movement against soldiers of the South African Army in the central part of the Transvaal province in South Africa. The attack took place at a checkpoint in Sabie which was setup to conduct stop and searches for illegal firearms and drugs.

Prelude

The checkpoint was recently established in the region however instantly saw protests from local populations. Civilians of the area saw distaste in the army for trying to overule local policing. Tensions would rise when a farmer was arrested under the pretense of having an illegal firearm despite having a permit for it, of which the army would issue no apology to the farmer leading to small scale protests in the region and the local government pushing a request for the checkpoint to be removed which led to no where.

Motive

Members of the Afrikaner Resistance Movement stated their motive for the attack was to destroy the checkpoint and encourage the Government of South Africa to not intrude on provinces local authorities.

Attack

Soldiers assessing losses.

The attack took place in the early hours on the 9th of December 2018 at around 7am. Around six suspected terrorists divided into two groups too attack from multiple directions, one group would attack on the front face of the checkpoint with another from the rear. The victims of the attack were from the 4th infantry battalion in a detachment sent to garrison the checkpoint. Reportedly being under-equipped with outdated L1A1 SLR rifles and already facing supply issues.

The ambush went on for about 10 minutes in which one insurgent was killed along with seven South African soldiers with an additional insurgent injured along with a South African soldier injured.

Aftermath

South African soldiers conducting a patrol after the attack.

The Government of South Africa came out to announce a massive manhunt for the 6 suspected terrorists and to launch investigations into local civilians of the area, the South African Army would send additional reinforcements