/ 9 August 2001

110 dead, 140 wounded by mines in Angola in June

Luanda | Thursday

ANTI-personnel and anti-tank landmines killed 110 people and injured 140 others during June in six of Angola’s eighteen provinces, a UN report said on Wednesday.

About 500 000 people are trapped in areas littered with landmines or where fighting continues to rage in the 26-year civil war, the report said.

Estimates vary on how many landmines are in Angola. Independent groups put the number between eight and 15 million, while the government says the number is five to eight million.

The government has battled the rebel National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita) almost non-stop for 26 years, leaving an estimated 500 000 dead, another 100 000 mutilated, and four million of the 12 million population forced from their homes. – AFP