Operation Green Sea

Battle context

Operation Green Sea was an amphibious assault on Conakry, the capital of the Republic of Guinea, launched by Portuguese forces and Portuguese-led Guinean fighters during the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence. The operation pursued several simultaneous objectives: the overthrow of Ahmed Sékou Touré's government, the capture of PAIGC leader Amílcar Cabral, the destruction of PAIGC naval and air assets based in Conakry, and the rescue of Portuguese prisoners of war held there. The attack represented a significant escalation by Portugal, extending the conflict beyond Guinea-Bissau's borders into a neighboring sovereign state that was providing support and sanctuary to the PAIGC. The operation's targeting of Cabral reflected how central his leadership was to the independence movement; the PAIGC operated extensively from Guinean territory, making Conakry a strategic rear base for the insurgency. Casualties among Guinean forces were recorded at approximately 500, though the result of the operation is not definitively recorded in terms of its stated objectives.