Portuguese irregular forces in the Overseas War

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In various theaters of operations in the

These irregular forces were usually held at the local level of Theater of Operations and included various types in terms of origin and dependence: militias of white settlers, native militias and forces, foreign forces from exile, forces of ex-guerrillas, dependent forces the Civil Administration, forces dependent on the armed forces and forces dependent on the PIDE.

Officially the totality of these forces was known by Auxiliary Forces. In Portuguese Guinea, General Spínola introduced the term African Force to designate the irregular forces composed of natives of the province.

In Theater of Operations, the main irregular forces were as follows:

Portuguese Angola

• Organização Provincial de Voluntários de Defesa Civil de Angola
  (Provincial Organization of Volunteers of Civil Defence of Angola) - mainly urban militia, consisting mainly of white settlers.
• Guarda Rural (Rural Guard) - auxiliary force of Public Security Police, dedicated to the defense of companies and farms.
• Formações Aéreas Voluntárias [pt] (Volunteer Aerial Formations) - aerial militia.
• Grupos Especiais (Special Groups) - units of volunteer black soldiers that had commando training.
• Tropas Especiais (Special Troops) - the name of the Special Groups in
  Cabinda
  .
• Fiéis (Faithfuls) - force composed of military and police from
  Mobutu; these men fled to Angola with their families in a total of nearly 5,000 people. The Portuguese Army selected 2,000 of these exiles and organized them on 3 Battalions of 5 companies each, with these three battalions placed in Chimbila, Camissombo and Gafaria
  ; they had their own Katangan officers and sergeants.
• Leais (Loyals) - a force composed by exiles from Zambia, black soldiers that were against Kenneth Kaunda.
• Bushmen, that specialized in tracking, reconnaissance and pseudo-terrorist operations
  .