Lusaka wants defence meeting with Angola

Zambia has asked for an urgent meeting with Angolan defence officials to discuss rising tension along their common border, AP reported on Monday. Zambia’s Foreign Minister Keli Walubita said in the Angolan capital, Luanda, that recent attacks in areas near the border had led to an increase in the number of Angolan refugees fleeing east into Zambia. An estimated 250,000 refugees are living in Zambia, most of them Angolans. Angola, Zambia and Namibia in February agreed to set up a defence committee to oversee common border security. Responding to the Zambian request, Angola’s Foreign Minister Joao Miranda agreed that the committee should meet to “analyse the situation generated by the UNITA rebel attacks in Zambian territory.” The Angolan government has been fighting UNITA for most of the past 25 years amid three failed peace deals. The civil war began after Angola gained independence from Portugal in 1975.