S. Africa Troops Kill 45 Namibia Rebels in Angola, Pretoria Says

South African troops pursued fleeing Namibian guerrillas into Angola on Saturday and killed 45 of the rebels, defense chief Constand Viljoen announced.

Viljoen said in a statement from Pretoria that one black South African soldier was killed and another wounded in the battle against members of the South-West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO), which is fighting to end South African rule over Namibia (South-West Africa).

Viljoen said the troops followed the guerrillas into Angola after the rebels staged a raid within Namibia. He said his soldiers were still six to nine miles inside Angola late Saturday night and will return to South Africa today.

Col. Tim Krynauw, the spokesman for the South African Defense Force, said the SWAPO guerrillas sabotaged 20 telephone poles, tried to blow up a bridge and launched a mortar attack Friday night on an army base. South African patrols found tracks Saturday morning leading from the attack sites into Angola, he said, and went in pursuit.

Under an agreement signed in February, 1984, South Africa was to withdraw its troops from fighting SWAPO guerrillas based in Angola, and Angola was to try to limit rebel activity in the Angola-Namibia border region.

South Africa finally announced the withdrawal of its last troops from Angola on June 3 but has said it reserves the right to protect its security with cross-border raids.

South Africa was internationally condemned for recent forays into Angola and Botswana, and for setting up an interim government of internal parties in Namibia that comes into effect on Monday.

Pretoria said the two earlier raids into Angola and Botswana were aimed against the African National Congress, the main guerrilla organization fighting to overthrow white minority rule of South Africa.

But the United States and others said the Angola raid in May was aimed at sabotaging U.S.-run oil installations in northern Angola that help support the Angolan economy.