Omani and British goals, on the other hand, were to safeguard Oman from communism and halt the spread of communist ideology as part of the broader Cold War.

A number of factors such as the British withdrawal from Aden and support from the newly independent South Yemen, China and the Soviet Union brought the rebels increased success, with the communists controlling the entirety of the Jebel region by the late 1960s.

During his collaboration with the British empire, the sultan committed himself to maintaining an iron-fisted policy, slowing down the development of his country to the detriment of the Omani population, who lived in atrocious and unhealthy conditions.

The province of Dhofar consists of an intermittent narrow, fertile coastal plain, on which stand Salalah, the provincial capital, and other towns such as Mughsayl, Taqah, and Mirbat.

As early as December 1962, Bin Nufl's guerrilla band performed sabotage operations on the British air base at Salalah and ambushed oil industry vehicles.

[citation needed] The Sultan had relied on the "Dhofar Force", a locally recruited irregular unit of only 60 men, to maintain order in the region.

"[21] Political scientist Fred Halliday reported during his visit to the area that "wherever we went we saw people wearing Mao and Lenin badges, reading socialist works and discussing.

"[22] Works included Lenin's, the German playwright Bertolt Brecht's and of some who were associated with the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) such as the writer and strategist Ghassan Kanafani.

The Front sought to establish a constitution, abolish martial law, restore freedom of the press and expression and ensure the rights of minorities.

[25] The transformation of the DLF, combined with a new supply of Chinese and Soviet[26] weaponry and better training, ensured that the armed wing of the PFLOAG turned into an effective fighting force.

[citation needed] They were also badly equipped, mainly with World War II vintage weapons such as bolt-action rifles, which were inferior to the PFLOAG's modern firearms.

The units of the SAF were generally not properly trained to face hardy guerrillas on their own ground, and no Omani held a rank above that of Lieutenant (a result of the Sultan's fears of opposition to his rule among the armed forces).

He then completed his education sitting in on councils, attending committee meetings and visiting industry and administrative centres in Britain before returning to Oman.

[38] His "five point plan" involved: Within hours of the coup, British Special Air Service (SAS) soldiers were flown into Oman to further bolster the counterinsurgency campaign.

They identified four main strategies that would assist the fight against the PFLOAG: The military commanders on the ground (rather than the UK Ministry of Defence) suggested the implementation of a "hearts and minds" campaign, which would be put into operation primarily by a troop (25 men) from the SAS.

It approved the deployment of 20 personnel of the British Royal Engineers, who would aid in the construction of schools and health centres, and drilled wells for the population of Dhofar.

A significant outlet for government propaganda was the many inexpensive Japanese transistor radios which were sold cheaply or distributed free to jibalis who visited Salalah and other government-held towns to sell firewood or vegetables.

[41] On 27 December 1970 Sultan Qaboos gave an interview to Al Khaleej and commented on the situation in Dhofar saying: This crisis developed in the past, but its after-effects still exist.

And on the very first day [of assuming power] we addressed ourselves to the discontented there, and extended our hand to them saying that what they were complaining about regarding the absence of liberties and services, such as education and health, would end; that it was up to them to come forward and demonstrate their goodwill; that we should co-operate together and that defects inherited from the past needed full time on our part to cope with them.

Salim Mubarak played a major role in establishing the first Firqat (and the only one to be formed from members of more than one tribe), but died, apparently of heart failure, shortly after its first successful actions.

The revitalised SAF created fortified lines running north from the coast and up to the summit of the Jebel, to interdict the movement of rebels and the camel trains carrying their supplies from the PDRY.

The SAF soldiers continually sortied from their outposts to set ambushes on the most likely enemy infiltration routes and mount attacks against rebel mortar- and rocket-launching positions.

On 17 April 1972, a battalion of the SAF made a helicopter landing to capture a position codenamed Simba at Sarfait near the border with South Yemen.

[57] As a result of the various measures undertaken by the Omani government, firqats and regular SAF, the rebels were being deprived both of local support and supplies from the PDRY.

On 19 July 1972, at the Battle of Mirbat, 250 rebel fighters attacked 100 assorted firqat under training, paramilitary askars (armed police) and a detachment of the Special Air Service.

The Iranian brigade first secured the Salalah-Thumrait road, while their helicopters played a vital role in keeping the isolated Simba position supplied.

In January 1975, in the hastily organised Operation Dharab, the SAF attempted to capture the main rebel logistic base in the Shershitti Caves.

[61] During late February 1975, three battalions of the SAF eliminated much of the rebel "9th June" Regiment (named after the anniversary of the outbreak of the rebellion) in the rugged Wadi Ashoq in the Jebel Samhan between the Damavand and Hornbeam lines.

An attack from Simba, intended to be a diversion, nevertheless succeeded in descending cliffs and slopes 3,000 feet (910 m) in total height to reach the coast at Dalqhut, and thus finally cut off the adoo from their bases in the PDRY.

The special envoy in Oman of The Times of London explained in 1976: Most of the civil servants and all the army officers I met, with one single exception, were British.