Operation Barracuda

1979 Central African coup d'état
Date	19-20 September 1979 (Operation Caban); 1979-1981 (Operation Barracuda)
Location	Central African Empire
Result	Coup succeeds.; Bokassa I is exiled.; The Central African Empire is overthrown.; The Central African Republic is restored.;
Belligerents
House of Bokassa; Armed Forces loyalists	Armed Forces rebels; France; Chad; Zaire
Commanders and leaders
Bokassa I	David Dacko; Valéry Giscard d'Estaing

Operation Barracuda was a military operation by France during 1979-1981, to return to power the former President of the Central African Republic, David Dacko. It followed up Operation Caban of 21 September 1979, a bloodless military operation in which Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire was overthrown by French paratrooper troupes.

History

Barracuda was led by French Colonel Bernard Degenne, based in N'Djamena (the capital of Chad), who gave the code name Barracuda to four Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma helicopters and four Transall C-160 transport aircraft, which carried elements of the 8th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment to the Central African capital of Bangui. At noon, a company of the 3rd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment from Libreville (the capital of Gabon), was also transported to Bangui.^[1]

Until November 1979, Barracuda aimed to protect French citizens in the country and the Dacko government, in addition to supporting the Central African Armed Forces (FACA) in maintaining order. Afterwards, it aimed to rebuild and instruct FACA to ensure the stability of the country. Barracuda ended in June 1981 and was replaced by the "French Elements of Operational Assistance" which remained in the Central African Republic until 1998.^[2]

Footnotes

^ (in French) Stephen Smith and Géraldine Faes, Bokassa Ier : un empereur français, Paris, Calmann-Lévy, 2000 ISBN 2-7021-3028-3.
^ Centre de doctrine d'emploi des forces (September 2015). "50 ans d'OPEX en Afrique (1964–2014)" (PDF) (in French). Cahier du Retex. pp. 30–31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 January 2017. Retrieved 7 September 2017.

[Smith_Faes-1] (in French) Stephen Smith and Géraldine Faes, Bokassa Ier : un empereur français, Paris, Calmann-Lévy, 2000 ISBN 2-7021-3028-3.

[2] Centre de doctrine d'emploi des forces (September 2015). "50 ans d'OPEX en Afrique (1964–2014)" (PDF) (in French). Cahier du Retex. pp. 30–31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 January 2017. Retrieved 7 September 2017.

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Part of a series on the
History of the Central African Republic

Early history Kanem Empire c. 700–1380 Trans-Saharan slave trade c. 1500–1600 Sultanate of Bagirmi 1522–1897 Wadai Empire 1635–1909
Colonial period French Equatorial Africa French Congo 1882–1910 French Chad 1900–1960 Ubangi-Shari 1903–1958 French Cameroon 1918–1960 Decolonization Kongo-Wara rebellion 1928–1931 Brazzaville Conference 1944–0000 African Democratic Rally 1946–1958
Independence Bokassa period 1966–1979 Bokassa coup d'état 1966–0000 Central African Empire 1976–1979 Coronation of Bokassa I 1977–0000 Emperor of Central Africa Operation Caban 1979–0000 Operation Barracuda 1979–1981 Kolingba coup d'état 1981–0000 Patassé coup attempt 1982–0000
Current period General election 1993–0000 Heightened tensions 1993–1998 Bangui Peace Accords 1997–0000 United Nations Mission 1998–0000 Bush War 2004–2007 Kolingba coup attempt 2001–0000 Bozizé coup d'état 2003–0000 Civil War 2012–0000 Conflict under Djotodia 2013–2014 Fall of Bangui 2013–0000
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