The official count of those killed during the uprising was 260 people ; historians place the number of dead higher . The Zimbabwe National Army suffered no fatal casualties . Binda calls the battle the RAR 's greatest victory , writing that the troops were greatly outnumbered , but won through superior professionalism and discipline . Several analysts comment on the irony that Mugabe and ZANU – PF were saved from a major rebellion by white-led ex-Rhodesian troops . The battle was the RAR 's last ; its personnel were reassigned to other units when it was disbanded later in 1981 . The rebellion 's defeat , meanwhile , prompted mass desertions by ZIPRA guerrillas fearing retribution from the Mugabe administration . Indeed , the uprising partially fuelled Mugabe 's bloody '' Gukurahundi '' campaign against Matabeleland later in the 1980s
Gukurahundi
Gukurahundi
1981 Entumbane uprising