Free Republic

Salalah (Agenzia Fides) - More than a thousand people took part in civil ceremonies and liturgical celebrations that took place on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 December in the Sultanate of Oman, on the occasion of the inauguration of a new Catholic church. The place of worship is dedicated to St. Francis Xavier, patron of the missions, and is located in the city of Salalah, governorate of Dhofar. The first stone of the church was laid in February 2018, and the construction of the entire place of worship was completed in just 18 months. The church has a capacity of...

THE battle-hardened Australian jihadis coming home from Syria's civil war are not the first cohort of returning Middle Eastern freelance fighters to stump policymakers in Canberra. The war in Oman's Dhofar region that raged between 1962 and 1976 lured dozens of the nation's most seasoned Vietnam-era soldiers and airmen, who opted to keep fighting Marxist guerillas rather than readjust to civilian life. ..... Vietnam War hero Keith Payne still recalls publicly lashing the Whitlam government's soft stance on communism in April 1975 before leaving for Dhofar, where he served as an Omani captain for nine months. Payne now admits he...

This is a YouTube video I came across. During the 1970s, the Sultanate of Oman was threatened by Communist guerillas of the PFLOAG (Popular Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arabian Gulf), and the UK sent SAS soldiers to help the government. On July 19, 1972, a SAS squad was stationed outside the town of Mirbat, in Dhofar province. They came under attack by several hundred Adoo (Communists), and they had to hold the line until support could arrive. Here is the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxmtbMFGSXo&feature=autoplay&list=PL5FFDDFA750F39D0A&lf=results_main&playnext=4