BRONWEN ROBERTS and OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 7.00pm.
THE NAMIBIAN government claims the situation in Caprivi is now under control and several rebels have been arrested. According to Mikka Asino, a spokesman for Namibia’s Home Affairs Ministry, security forces are mopping up rebels hiding in the contested town of Katima Mulilo.
The government has asked civilians to stay in their homes during this process, said Asino. He added that several people have died in the hostilities but exact figures are not yet available.
Asino said information is still being gathered on who was behind the rebellion but it was believed a leading figure could be former Namibian MP Mesheke Muyongo, leader of the United Democratic Front.
2.45pm:
The Namibian army is bombarding a NBC building in Katima Mulilo with mortars to root out suspected Caprivi separatist rebels who occupied the building overnight. Earlier attempts by police and army to flush the rebels left three rebels and six security force personnel dead.
The rebels, who entered the town after midnight, were at midday on Monday still occupying the studios of the state-owned Namibian Broadcasting Corporation, Caprivi police chief Hieronymus Goraseb said on radio.
They had also attempted to occupy the main police station and an army base at the airport but had failed, he said.
Soldiers and police officers surrounding the NBC building are not under fire, but are being prevented from entering the offices by teargas in the air, he said.
Six members of the security forces and three alleged rebels were killed earlier on Monday in a gunbattle at the NBC offices.
The state casualties include three soldiers and three policemen.
Namibian Defence Force Major General Martin Shalli says eight alleged secessionists have been captured so far.
Police and the army have surrounded the building and are trying to force the rebels out with mortar bombs, NBC spokeswoman Umbi Swartz-Karuiahe said in Windhoek.
She said NBC staff are not under threat, but that heavy damage is being caused to the building by the barrage of mortar bombs.
“We don’t have any journalists in there because they knock off at nine o’clock and these people took over the building at about midnight.”
“The situation in Katima is extremely tense, all the schools are closed and the streets are deserted.”
She was not aware if the rebels had made any broadcasts from the station.
The Namibian Defence Force is still verifying the facts and has declined to comment, a spokesman said.
The rebels are believed to be members of the Caprivi Liberation Front, an armed secessionist movement launched in the region last year.