/ 2 January 2001

UNITA ABDUCTS, KILLS NAMIBIAN VILLAGERS

TWO Namibian nationals claim that Angolan UNITA rebels abducted and tortured them and seven other villagers, killing three, a human rights organisation said. Daniel Ndeluudila, 54, and Simeon Hamulo, 23, told the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) that they and the other villagers were abducted on December 25 in northeast Namibia and taken across the border into Angola. Three men were “bludgeoned to death with sticks,” the statement said. The two villagers said they were themselves also assaulted with horsewhips and axes and that the four other captives – three men and a woman – were removed to an unknown area. Namibia’s border with Angola has been plagued by armed banditry since Namibia allowed Angolan forces to pursue their UNITA foes on to Namibian soil a year ago. AFP