Léopoldville, Ganshof and de Schryver continued to meet with the ministers with the hopes of establishing a mutual guarantee of security for both Europeans and Africans. Then, for reasons not entirely clear, Belgian units intervened in Matadi. Fighting broke out and 12 Congolese were killed. News of the conflict (along with exaggerated casualty reports) spread to other army camps across the country, resulting in a wave of renewed mutinies and anti-Belgian hostility. Between 10 and 18 July, Belgian forces intervened 28 times in Congolese localities. With the exception of the Luluabourg authorisation, the Belgian troops never acted with the permission of the government. Belgium also disptached the naval Task Group 218.2, under Capitaine de vaisseau Petitjean, comprising nine vessels: the troop transport A957 Kamina, the Algerine-class F901 Lecointe, F903 Dufour, F904 De Brouwer and F905 Demoor, and the vedettes Semois, Rupel, Dender, and Ourthe. Order was ultimately restored largely through the use of the gendarmerie, a more wieldy and reliable institution than the army. Aftermath and effects The Force Publique mutiny increased the unpopularity of the army and cost the government a significant amount of support in rural areas. The insecurity they caused also impeded economic production and the distribution of goods and distracted the leadership from addressing other problems facing the administration. The revolt was the first of many army mutinies that occurred in African states in the 1960s. In the Congo itself, Colonel Mobutu would go on to seize power later in 1960 in a coup d'état, establishing the College of Commissioners-General, which ran the government in 1960-61 under his authority. Five years later Mobutu seized power for a second time, ushering in first quasi-military but then a civilian government. His rule lasted until 1997. Notes and references Notes Citations References Force Publique Mutinies Congo Crisis 1960s in the Democratic Republic of the Congo