TIME ON DEVILS GORGE

Not since the Matabele and Mashona uprisings against Cecil Rhodes' white settlers in the 1890s had Rhodesian whites felt so threatened. For years, the very notion of black terrorism seemed inconceivable. Most tribal chiefs were docile government stooges. Those who spoke up for black nationalism were quickly clapped into prison. Early terrorist raids misfired. No longer. In recent months, wellarmed, well-trained and well-organized bands of black nationalists have been infiltrating south of the Zambezi River to launch guerrilla warfare against Rhodesia.



Ian Smith's white supremacist regime is fighting back, trying to cut out the infection before it can spread. Last week, along the shores of Lake Kariba and at remote Devil's Gorge, troops tramped through the underbrush seeking terrorists, while Rhodesian jets roared overhead, raining bombs, bullets and napalm from the skies. In Salisbury's High Court, pictures of a huge arms cache were displayed as 32 Africans went on trial, charged with possessing "weapons of war"—an offense now punishable in Rhodesia by death. All along the Zambezi, which separates Rhodesia and Zambia, the hunt was on.

To combat infiltration from Zambia, Rhodesia has beefed up its light infantry, started using dogs on border patrols and ordered an increase in aerial surveillance. Rhodesia, South Africa, and Portugal's "Overseas Provinces" of Mozambique and Angola are coordinating their security operations. South African police helicopters are helping the Rhodesians keep the border watch, and two weeks ago a South African police constable was shot to death in a border clash, becoming South Africa's first casualty of the confrontation.

Bunkers and Buried Arms. An estimated 3,000 black Rhodesians have slipped away to Zambia and Tanzania for training by Russian, Chinese, Egyptian, Algerian and Cuban guerrilla experts. Several hundred have infiltrated back across the Zambezi, digging up arms previously smuggled in and buried at preplanned locations. Guerrillas who once toted old Lee-Enfield rifles are now using Czechoslovak-made recoilless rifles and rocket launchers. They have built underground bunkers and tunnel complexes in Viet Cong style.

The increasing infiltration poses a problem not only for Rhodesia but also for President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia, who fears Rhodesian retaliation because his country serves as a staging area for at least 1,000 guerrillas. Last week Kaunda returned from London, where he discussed the purchase of British Rapier ground-to-air missiles in order to cope with possible Rhodesian air raids. At the same time he appealed to Smith to change his "unhuman, un-Christian and ungodly" policies. "Let him think again," urged Kaunda, "and we in Zambia will be the first to shake Smith's hand." But Smith seemed in no mood for handshaking. He was intent upon crushing any trace of a black challenge to his regime.