 The francophone company was first deployed out of its barracks in late November 1977 , when it was sent to <unk> , about 88 kilometres ( 55 mi ) north @-@ east from Salisbury , for a few days in the bush on Operation Hurricane , the Army 's operational area which covered Rhodesia 's north @-@ east against guerrilla activity . After this passed without major incident , the Frenchmen were despatched to Rusambo , a camp in the <unk> <unk> Trust Lands , near <unk> , about 250 kilometres ( 160 mi ) north @-@ east from the capital and less than 20 kilometres ( 12 mi ) from the border with Mozambique . Most insurgents in this area belonged to ZANLA . 
