I’ve been reading about the Dhofar Insurgency recently, and will soon be reading an account by a former member of the Special Air Service (SAS) who fought for the Omani sultanate against a number of different (leftist) rebel groups. I found the book on sale in Muscat, so I expect it to be sympathetic to the sultanate (the current sultan overthrew his father during the course of the insurgency).
The Dhofar Insurgency doesn’t seem to attract much attention, but does have some interesting parallels with other conflicts. British involvement in Oman’s internal affairs, which dates back to the 1860s, increased in the 1950s during the Jebel Akhdar War and (later) the Dhofar Insurgency; here’s the Wikipedia entry on the Dhofar campaign:
The [British] military commanders on the ground [...] suggested the implementation of a Hearts and Minds campaign, which would be put into operation primarily by a troop (25 men) from the SAS. The [British] government (then under Conservative leader Edward Heath) supported this unconventional approach to the counterinsurgency campaign. It approved the deployment of 20 personnel of the British Royal Engineers, who would aid in the construction of schools and health centres, and drill wells for the population of Dhofar. A Royal Air Force medical team would also operate out of Salalah hospital, in order to open a humanitarian front in the conflict [...] The British government additionally provided monetary support for the creation of the Dhofar Development Programme, whose aim was to wrest support from the PFLOAG through the modernisation of Dhofar.
Sounds somewhat familiar doesn’t it?
