BUCHIZYA MTSETEKA, Johannesburg | Thursday 11.15am
ANGOLA’s civil war, one of Africa’s longest running conflicts, is entering a more dangerous phase after reports that Unita rebels have acquired air power, analysts said on Wednesday.
The Johannesburg-based Institute for Security Studies and diplomats say that Unita forces led by Jonas Savimbi have purchased attack helicopters and Russian-built MiG fighters in a bid to end Luanda’s monopoly in the skies. ”That is what we hear and we are getting it from good sources,” the institute’s Jakkie Potgieter said. ”If true, this will give Unita air capability, which they have always desired, but never had,” he added.
Potgieter said the acquisition could dramatically alter the course of the war between the embattled government in Luanda and Unita, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, founded by Savimbi in 1966.
The oil and diamond-rich country returned to full-scale civil war in December when a four-year-old peace deal collapsed after Unita refused to disarm, triggering a government offensive against the rebels.
The December offensive against Unita’s central strongholds of Andulo and Bailundo quickly bogged down after the rebels counter-attacked, grabbed huge tracts of land and put key provincial capitals under seige. Unita has consolidated gains in the country’s southern and central regions and northern diamond mining areas. It has put key cities such as Kuito, Huambo and Malanje, the gateway to Luanda, under siege.
The government has also confirmed that Unita has taken control of a sector of the Angolan border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo along the northern Uige province. Officials said Unita controls large areas of the Zaire River, enabling it to supply its forces in border areas. — Reuters