ANGOLA’S main rebel group Unita said it had downed a military plane which crashed in an eastern province of the country at the weekend, Portugal’s Lusa news agency reported on Wednesday. The Russian-made Antonov 12 crashed on Sunday in Lwena as it was coming in to land from Luanda, 1 000 kilometers to the west. Moscow said the plane had a Russian crew and that half of the 60 people on board had been killed. Russian-made aircraft have suffered so many fatal crashes in Angola that civil aviation officials last year barred civilians from travelling on the planes, meant to ship troops and supplies. – Sapa
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