1.
GV Military band heads parade
0.21

2.
SV Troops in parade (2 shots)
0.29

3.
SV Drummer hitting broken drum
0.34

4.
SV Troops march past (2 shots)
0.46

5.
SV Children watch
0.53

6.
CV Dog detecting mines, troops abandon truck
1.05

7.
SV Fuse attached to mine
1.07

8.
GV Mine explodes PAN troops into truck
1.18

9.
GV Troops in mock battle
1.25

10.
SV Soldier on assault course attacked by "enemy" unarmed combat display (3 shots)
1.58

11.
SV Gen. Arriaga watching
2.03

12.
GV Troops in mounted display - jump rails
2.08

13.
SV Mounted troops past
2.18

14.
SV Cavalry in flag-picking display
2.26

15.
SV Cavalry in parade
2.38



Initials SGM/1601 SGM/1642



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: A "new weapon" has been introduced by the Portuguese forces in Mozambique -- the horse. Most military experts thought the horse had become obsolete with the introduction of the tank. But in certain terrains and fighting conditions it can still be useful; a usefulness which the Mozambique army hopes to exploit in their anti-guerrilla activities.

A horse brigade has completed training, and will shortly go into active service. As well as giving advantages of mobility in difficult terrain, the horses are thought to be a benefit in ambush situations. Their handlers are confident they will sense an ambush well before a human would be alerted.

The horses are not the only animal "conscripts" ??? in Mozambique. Dogs have been trained to locate land-mines. The horses, dogs and their human colleagues were all put through their paces at a military parade at Vila Pery on Saturday (14 April).

SYNOPSIS: General Kaulza de Arriaga, the Commander-in-Chief of the Portuguese Armed Forces in Mozambique, was there to see how his men had progressed.

Visnews was invited to film this event by the Portuguese government.

Vila Pery military training centre in Mozambique, where the Portuguese forces are putting on a big display for military chiefs. And like all army displays, it starts with a parade.

Today, a parade. Tomorrow, these troops could be in battle. For Portugal's soldiers are no strangers to action.

These men are fighting a war. An undeclared war, but a serious one. The enemy is mostly unseen. A guerrilla army said to be armed and trained abroad but likely to strike here at any time.

The spectators who saw the troops parading also saw one of the unorthodox ways they combat an unorthodox enemy. Dogs have been conscripted. Their sharp senses make them ideal living mine-detectors. An officer warns his men the dog's ??? his bone for that day. The next step is to dispose of the danger.

On with the patrol, or in this case, on to the next item in the programme. There are sixty thousand men in the Mozambique army, and about sixty per cent of them are Africans. The Portuguese authorities hope to continue increasing the proportion of African troops. By the middle of next year, three out of four soldiers should be Africans. This will save Portugal the necessity of bringing in troops from Portugal itself to maintain anti-guerrilla duties.

General Kaulza de Arriaga, Commander-in-Chief of the Portuguese forces in Mozambique, sw his latest "weapon" in action...Horses. Although cavalry regiments generally became obsolete with the invention of the tank, horses still come into their own in certain terrains. Mozambique is one of them. General de Arriaga decided that horses would be a useful anti-guerrilla innovation. They provide mobility in difficult countryside. They can also sense human presence, and experiments suggest they would be aware of an ambush long before a hu??? patrolman.