Angolan Government, Rebels Claim Victories in Renewed War
The Angolan government and the rebel UNITA movement both claimed victories Sunday in the country’s civil war.
State radio said the government recaptured the northwestern oil town of Soyo, while UNITA said it seized Cubal, the government’s forward base for attacking rebel positions in the central highlands.
Military and diplomatic sources said a government offensive backed by air strikes was also under way to retake Caxito, the capital of Bengo province, 40 miles northeast of Luanda.
UNITA radio said that rebel forces retook Cubal, from which they withdrew a month ago, capturing two helicopters, armored cars and a large amount of arms and ammunition.
Jonas Savimbi’s National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, or UNITA, signed a peace agreement with the government in 1991 ending 16 years of civil war.
But the rebel movement took up arms again after rejecting its defeat by the ruling party, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, in U.N.-supervised elections in September.
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