HAUF
The unprovoked attack on Omani fort at Habrut on the 5th of May by troops from PDRY elicited an almost immediate response from the Sultanate when SOAF bombed the Yemeni fort on the PDRY side of the border the next day. The sultan came to the conclusion that more had to be done both in retaliation  for the attack on his fort and also to draw global attention to what was happening on the Omani/PDRY border. Op SIMBA at Sarfait had been noted internationally but had not quite had the desired impact. It had also not been completely successful in strangling the adoo supply lines along the Ho Chi Minh trail. The obvious target would be the adoo infrastructure in the town of Hauf just across the border from Safrait. This vipers nest was the main adoo supply base in PDRY but unfortunately did have some AAA (ZU23) protection. The sensitive issue was of 'seconded' or contract 'pilots' crossing the border to attack a town in PDRY. International knowledge that they had done so was bad enough but the consequences if they were shot down and captured were unthinkable. The Sultan discussed his intentions with CSAF and with the British Ambassador who passed on the news to London. In turn those intentions were reviewed by the DOE in Whitehall
12th May Whitehall's Deliberations.
The matter was discussed in cabinet and a great deal of care was taken to ensure that blatantly obvious British involvement was difficult to identify. Some pressure was applied to minimise such involvement even though it was blindingly obvious that it was happening.
25th May   Cabinet
Hawf was attacked on the 25th of May both by SOAF and by SAF artillery. A certain amount of damage was done in the town but four of the Strikemasters were damaged. One, Peter Hulme's was badly damaged, the other three were repaired fairly soon. Was the attack a success ? Some buildings and supply dumps were damaged. PDRY complained to the UN and Oman briskly defended their actions and so raised the profile of the war in Dhofar.
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