Regime’s Drive Halted, Angolan Rebel Chief Says

The leader of anti-Marxist rebels in Angola says his forces have repulsed the strongest offensive ever attempted by Angolan soldiers and their Soviet and Cuban supporters in a fierce six-week battle in the desert bush.

Jonas Savimbi, who heads the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, told reporters at a camp in southern Angola that his forces suffered 410 dead and 832 wounded in the battle of the Lomba River, involving more than 10,000 soldiers. Savimbi’s remarks, made Monday, became available from the remote area Tuesday.

He added that the Angolan government of President Jose Eduardo dos Santos lost about 2,300 dead in fighting on the south bank of the river from Aug. 19 until last week. The attackers were trying to take the key town of Mavinga, 20 miles south of the Lomba, in the southeastern part of the African country.

Savimbi’s figures could not be independently confirmed, and the Angolan government has not given any overall casualty toll for the fighting, although it has said it lost “dozens” of troops in three separate air raids by South Africa since Sept. 16.

The long dirt airstrip at Mavinga is crucial for the supplying of Savimbi’s rebels in their 10-year-long war against the government in Luanda.

Savimbi speculated that the defeat of the offensive could give more weight to moderates inside Angola’s ruling party, who he said favor negotiations with his forces.