THE Namibian Ministry of Defence has admitted that two Namibian soldiers died fighting Unita in southern Angola last month. The Ministry made the revelation in a press statement responding to a claim by the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) that eight NDF soldiers had been killed in combat with Unita on July 21. Previously Unita claimed that it killed 10 Namibian soldiers on July 18. When details of the Unita claims were published on July 25, Deputy Defence Minister Victor Simunja denied that the NDF had suffered any recent losses in Angola. “The true fact is that, only two NDF soldiers died and three [were] wounded contrary to NSHR report,” NDF spokesman Vincent Mwange said on Friday. “There is absolutely no truth” in the NSHR report that “injured soldiers and the dead were carried for seven days to a place where they could be picked up by a helicopter. The NSHR said it had learned from reliable sources that on July 21 eight NDF soldiers were killed in combat at Licua, south-eastern Angola, some 150km north-east of the Namibian border town of Rundu. According to the NSHR report, other NDF soldiers were apparently injured in the fighting. – The Namibian
Namibia’s secret battles with Unita July 29, 2001