Operation Gatling

Operation Gatling was a military operation conducted by the Rhodesian Security Forces in Zambian territory on 19 October 1978, with the aim to attack camps believed to house guerrilla forces. The attack's primary target, just 16 kilometres (10 miles) north-east of central Lusaka, Zambia's capital, was the Westlands Farm, which at the time was known as "Freedom Camp" and run by the Zimbabwe African People's Union, one of the two main resistance groups opposing white minority rule in Rhodesia. The attack came after the previous month's Operation Snoopy, a Rhodesian raid into Mozambique targeting ZANLA camps in response to Air Rhodesia Flight 825 being shot down by guerrilla forces.

The Rhodesian raid's other targets were Chikumbi, 19 kilometres (12 miles) north of Lusaka, and Mkushi Camp; all three were to be attacked more or less simultaneously in a coordinated sweep across Zambia. Assaulting targets deep inside Zambia was a first for the Rhodesian forces; previously only liberation movement members near the border had been attacked.