FOUR people were killed at the weekend in a machete attack by rebels in the southern Angolan village of Katongo, Roman Catholic radio Ecclesia reported. The attackers, who identified themselves as rebels from the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita), surprised the victims at a bottle store in Cuanza-Sul province, the radio said. Killings by machetes or axes are common in Angola, and are generally blamed on Unita. Unita has stepped up its attacks in recent months. On September 19, five people were killed and six others injured when a truck was ambushed in the southern province of Bie. Eight days earlier, 24 people were killed and 27 others injured in an attack on an isolated village in the southern province of Huambo. That attack was also blamed on the Unita. In statement released on Saturday, Unita claimed to have killed 312 soldiers and government militiamen during attacks from September 5 to 19, in 10 of Angola’s 18 provinces. – AFP