/ 10 August 2001

ANGOLA: HEAVY FIGHTING IN HIGHLANDS

THE Angolan army (FAA) and the Unita rebel movement are engaged in “heavy fighting” in the northern part of the central highland’s province of Bie, Portuguese news agency Lusa reported on Wednesday. The report said that fighting was concentrated around Gamba, a village in the Nharea district about 100km north of the provincial capital, Kuito. The report quoted humanitarian sources as saying that more than 3_000 residents had fled Gamba in recent days. Meanwhile, the official news agency Angop said that two children were killed by an explosion on Tuesday in the central Angolan city of Huambo. Another child was seriously injured in the blast, the report added. There were no details on the origin of the explosion. In a separate development, reports on Wednesday said that an “unidentified” toxic spill killed at least two people in Cabinda in northern Angola, and a number of people had to be hospitalised after they inhaled the product. – IRIN