S. Africa Fighter Downed in Angola Raid : Pretoria Reports 3 Soldiers Killed; Luanda Tells of Heavy Combat

A South African warplane was shot down and three soldiers were killed in an artillery bombardment, according to military headquarters in Pretoria, as fighting intensified between South African and Angolan forces over the weekend in southern Angola.

After initially denying Angolan claims of heavy combat there, South Africa acknowledged Monday that its troops were deeply deployed in southern Angola, pursuing guerrillas of the South-West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) and supporting anti-government forces belonging to UNITA, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola.

In Luanda, a spokesman for Angola’s Marxist government spokesman said South Africa now has more than 9,000 troops in southern Angola. The presence is described as a dual effort to prevent SWAPO guerrillas, who are fighting for the independence of Namibia (South-West Africa), from infiltrating from Angola and to support UNITA in the latest offensive of its 13-year-old civil war against Luanda.

Pretoria administers Namibia in defiance of the United Nations.

‘Bitter, Brutal, Tough’

“The fighting is heavy,” the Angolan spokesman said, “and we are engaging the enemy, the forces of the racist regime in Pretoria, across virtually the whole of southern Angola, though there are particularly sharp battles under way in several places.

“While this is not a make-or-break situation militarily, at least not for us, the fighting is very intense and likely to escalate in the next week. . . . It’s bitter, it’s brutal, it’s tough.”

A South African military spokesman said later in Pretoria that a fighter-bomber was shot down by ground fire Saturday while attacking Angolan units around the town of Cuito Cuanavale in southeastern Angola in support of UNITA. The pilot is missing, according to the spokesman.

Angola claimed that two aircraft were shot down, but Pretoria denied it. Angola did not say what happened to the aircraft crews.

The South African attack appeared to be part of a series of air raids in reprisal for a bomb that exploded at a bank in Oshakati on Friday, killing 20 people and injuring 30 others, in the worst terrorist incident in the 22-year war for Namibian independence.

SWAPO Denies Responsibility

South Africa blamed the bombing on SWAPO, which traditionally steps up its attacks at this time of year, but SWAPO spokesmen have denied responsibility. Anticipating greater SWAPO infiltration during the December-to-May rainy season, South African forces usually increase their deployments in southern Angola to halt the guerrillas.

Pretoria had said Saturday that its warplanes had attacked SWAPO headquarters, training, logistics and other facilities at Lubango and Ngiva, but it said that all its aircraft had returned safely despite Angola’s extensive air defenses.

On Monday, a military spokesman said the subsequent raid in which the fighter-bomber was shot down Saturday at Cuito Cuanavale was separate and aimed at protecting South African troops fighting alongside UNITA in recent months to capture the strategic town from Angolan forces.

“After successful air strikes against SWAPO targets on Saturday morning, the air force was used again in an air attack on Cuban and (Angolan government) reinforcements that posed a potential threat to South African forces,” the spokesman said. “During this operation, one aircraft was struck by ground fire.”

The spokesman refused to provide more details or to explain why defense headquarters had deferred announcement of this and other air strikes.

Later Announcement

After declaring that this was the extent of South African casualties in the weekend fighting, the spokesman later announced that three soldiers had been killed over the weekend in a heavy artillery bombardment of their unit, also apparently fighting with UNITA near Cuito Cuanavale.

Last week, Pretoria announced that five of its soldiers were killed in battles with Angolan government forces.

In Luanda, an Angolan military spokesman said two South African Mirage jets had been shot down in the raid at Cuito Cuanavale, in addition to six in attacks earlier last week. At least 140 South African soldiers have been killed in the past week in southern Angola, according to Luanda officials.

South African spokesmen reject such Angolan claims as propaganda intended to exaggerate the “limited presence” of Pretoria’s forces in southern Angola. However, they have acknowledged that many, if not most, black casualties are not reported publicly at the request of the soldiers’ families.