to 1986 when Citizen Force units of 44 Parachute Brigade were called up and became increasingly embroiled in the internal unrest situation in South Africa, 1 Parachute Battalion remained virtually the only parachute unit to carry on with operations in South West Africa and Angola. The refinement of the old "Fireforce" technique into the night-time Lunar Operations saw curfews being enforced as a result of night time parachute drops during this period. At the end of 1980 the force was scaled down and 14 Para Battalion Group and 4 Para Battalion were disbanded. Urban and Rural COINOPS: 1984–1991 The period 1984 to 1986 saw intense internal unrest within South Africa and most elements of the brigade as well as the companies of 1 Parachute Battalion were called up to do urban Counter Insurgency Operations (COINOPS). Unrest in Townships in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Witwatersrand and Pretoria saw Infantry Companies of 44 Parachute Brigade, and later complete battalions being used to assist with the maintenance of law and order. These operations were dubbed Poncho and Zenon. The gunners of 18 Light Regiment on the other hand found themselves deployed as an infantry battalion to prevent unrest within the homeland of Kwa Ndebele, in an Operation dubbed Windmeul. This period even saw a battalion of technical, maintenance, signals and other supporting elements of the brigade being deployed in Soweto as part of an Operation dubbed Xenon. The brigade's operational focus again shifted back to rural COINOPS in 1986 and members of the brigade were deployed along the borders of Zimbabwe and Botswana in an Operation known as Operation Pebble. Battalions who were called up during this period were called up for 60 days at a time for border protection duties. In 1990 however 1 Parachute Battalion again saw further participation in numerous operational deployments to stabilise internal unrest situations in the country. In January 1991, 2 Parachute Battalion carried out the first operational jump in an urban COINOPS role during a 60-day deployment insurgency role. They conducted a subsequent sweep through a built-up area as part of an Operation called Eardrum. In May 1991, 3 Parachute Battalion mobilised with a Battalion HQ and two companies within 72 hours to deploy for 30 days in Soweto on urban COINOPS. During this time several operational parachute drops were executed in the urban areas, as part of cordon and search operations. Climax to the