>Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2000 07:03:30 -0800 >From: Michael Pugliese <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >BBC News >Tuesday, 18 January, 2000, 13:44 GMT > >Unita blamed for central Angola massacre > President dos Santos recently said sanctions against Unita were working >By Lara Pawson in Luanda >More than 100 people have been killed in Angola's central highland >province of Bie. > An unconfirmed number of Unita rebel troops are alleged to be >responsible for the deaths of up to 150 civilians in Chicandula, a small >village in the east of Bie province. >Reports of the attack come at a time when the Angolan government is >optimistic that peace throughout the country could be imminent. >The attack took place last week, but news only started seeping through >on Monday when terrified villagers arrived in the provincial capital, >Kuito. >'Immoral assassinations' >While some people escaped from the area in trucks, others made the 77km >journey on foot. >Among those who managed to escape is a priest from the parish of >Chinguar, who has described the deaths as immoral assassinations. >Locals from Camacupa, 50km west of Kuito, also arrived in the provincial >capital on Monday. >They told local reporters that it was no longer safe to stay in >Camacupa. >Unita 'active' >A Unita source told the BBC last week that the rebels are still >extremely active in Bie province where he said government troops are >currently carrying out an offensive. >However little information is currently available on the military >situation in Angola. >Since government troops took control of the rebel central highland >headquarters in October, Unita's military capacity is said to have >decreased. >The head of the army, General Joao de Matos, insists that Unita has been >defeated as a conventional force. >The Minister of Defence, Kundi Paihama, likewise said last week that the >25-year war is in its dying stages. >For the people of Chicandula, that might be hard to believe. > > > >______________________________________________________________________ > > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
