OWN CORRESPONDENTS, Huambo | Saturday 5.30pm.
THERE was no Christmas respite for residents of the strategic central Angolan town of Kuito on Friday, as shelling by Unita rebels claimed 35 dead and 63 injured.
One family lost eight members in the shelling as residents of the ruined town spent Christmas in shelters. Rescue services recovered the bodies of the victims as shelling eased off, and hurriedly buried most in communal graves, state television announced on Saturday.
The town’s hospital admitted 63 people injured by artillery fire overnight, local radio stations said.
On Saturday, clashes between the army and Unita intensified in the north of the town, while fighting was also reported to the south. UNITA artillery on the hilltops around Kuito prevented the Angolan air force from intervening, military experts in the capital, Luanda told AFP.
Kuito residents are now dependant for food on handouts from the UN World Food Programme (WFP), the only agency to have a warehouse in the town which has been spared looting, said state television. In other eastern and central Angolan towns threatened by the rebel forces of Jonas Savimbi, more than two million frightened residents spent Christmas in shelters because of the clashes, reports reaching the capital said. Many have also fled the region for the capital. — AFP