 In late 1975 , Mobutu , in a bid to install a pro @-@ Kinshasa government in Angola and thwart the Marxist Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola ( MPLA ) ' s drive for power , deployed FAZ armored cars , paratroopers , and three infantry battalions to Angola in support of the National Liberation Front of Angola ( FNLA ) . On 10 November 1975 , an anti @-@ Communist force made up of 1 @,@ 500 FNLA fighters , 100 Portuguese Angolan soldiers , and two FAZ battalions passed near the city of Quifangondo , only 30 kilometres ( 19 mi ) north of Luanda , at dawn on 10 November . The force , supported by South African aircraft and three 140 mm artillery pieces , marched in a single line along the Bengo River to face an 800 @-@ strong Cuban force across the river . Thus the Battle of Quifangondo began . The Cubans and MPLA fighters bombarded the FNLA with mortar and 122 mm rockets , destroying most of the FNLA 's armored cars and six Jeeps carrying antitank rockets in the first hour of fighting . 
