Immediately upon arrival, Kabarebe ordered the turbines shut down, completely cutting off power to the city of Kinshasa. By this point, Kabila's government was in chaos; Kinshasa was cut off from the outside world and without power, portions of eastern Congo were under Rebel control, and well armed Rwandan troops were only 230 km (145 miles) from Kinshasa. This caused panic among the government and general population throughout Kinshasa. Kabila's government and media outlets called upon the population to mobilize to protect the capital and root out those disloyal to the regime. Banyamulenge, Tutsis, political opponents, as well as ordinary citizens believed to be enemies were subject to property seizures, imprisonment, rape, torture, and summary execution. Kabila had been in talks with Zimbabwe since before the outbreak of war, and on August 4 Robert Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe, and Kabila signed a military cooperation treaty. On August 8 a contingent of Zimbabwean SAS led by Air Marshal Perence Shiri arrived at N'Djili Airport outside of Kinshasa. This action, code-named Operation Sovereignty Legitimacy, marked the start of Zimbabwean involvement in the Second Congo War. By August 12, over 800 Zimbabwean Paratroopers and several Cascavel armored cars had been airlifted to Kinshasa. Kabila continued his pleas for aid from South African Development Community, and on August 17 Zimbabwe and Namibia agreed to support his efforts to combat the various threats to his regime. Angola remained supportive, but refrained from entering the war, while South Africa urged further talks. Zimbabwean reinforcement efforts intensified, and by August 22, Zimbabwean troops at N'Djili totaled over 800 ground troops, ground support, and pilots, 15 Cascavels, 8 Fighter and light attack aircraft, and over a dozen Alouette III and AB 412 helicopters configured for both gunship and transport use. While Kabila was searching for allies, Kabarebe continued his advance towards Kinshasa. On August 11, Rwandan forces were ambushed before they could begin an attack on Kasangulu, 45 km (28 miles) south of Kinshasa. By August 17 the main Rwandan force had advanced as far as Kinsielele, 30 km (18 miles) south of Kinshasa, using country roads before running out of fuel. From this point onward, the Zimbabwean air support proved invaluable, as the Rwandans were relatively ill-equipped to defend themselves from aerial attacks.