FRANCOIS CASTERAN, Harare | Friday 7.30pm.
HEAVY fighting between Angolan government forces and rebel Unita troops has been reported in northern Uije province, where Unita has surrounded the town of the same name.
Uije was the last town taken by government forces before United Nations-sponsored peace accords were signed in Lusaka in November 1994 between Unita and the ruling People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA).
The latest clashes involved heavy artillery and have led to serious destruction in Makele-de-Zombo in the same province, where the rebels are said to control several other areas. No details of casualties were available but four nuns, three of them Italians, were reported missing after their compound came under fire in the recent clashes.
Fighting is expected to break out on several fronts if and when the Angolan army withdraws its troops from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo where they are backing President Laurent Kabila against a Tutsi-led rebellion.
Sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council against Unita leader Jonas Savimbi have had little effect. Savimbi insists he intends to abide by the Lusaka accords but has asked for more time to comply with their measures.
Security concerns have prevented UN representative Issa Diallo, a Guinean, travelling to Savimbi’s headquarters in Andula. Diallo cannot even negotiate with beakaway Unita dissidents in Luanda without the risk of scuppering all chances of talking to Savimbi himself.