Some 79 800 former Unita rebels have moved into Angolan demobolisation camps since the signing of the April peace accord which brought an end to civil war, a Unita official said on Wednesday.
The rebels and their families, totalling more than 250 000 people, have gathered in former rebel camps, waiting to be disarmed, an official for the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita) said.
Thirty-five camps were established after the government and Unita signed a ceasefire pact on April 4 to end a bloody civil war which has rumbled on since independence from Portugal in 1975.
Unita originally estimated that 55 000 former rebels would encamp, but it now appears that the figure will rise above 80 000 with thousands still expected to move into camps in the eastern and southeastern provinces of Moxico and Kwando-Kubango.
In the meantime, Unita has collected more than 25 000 light arms including 380 mortars and 25 cannons.
The movement of the soldiers in the camps is expected to end by June 7, but the deadline could be extended to June 15.
Aid organisations, some UN agencies and Unita have said conditions in the camps are critical, with no food or medicine available for the ex-fighters.
The groups have warned that without immediate international aid, a massive famine could fuel a flight from the camps with rebels seeking their survival through crime.
In May, Angola’s Defence Minister Kundi Paihama said the demobilisation camps have taken in many people who have falsely claimed to belong to the rebel group.
Paihama said many people who lived in Unita-controlled areas have identified themselves as having been rebel soldiers in hopes of preferential treatment by the government. – Sapa-AFP