Heavy fighting in Malange Province

UNITA rebel forces are gathering in the Cambo-Sunjinge district of northern Angola‘s Malange province to repel attacks by government troops, local residents told Lusa on Thursday. Residents who arrived in Malange city from Cambo Sunjinge said an undetermined number of armed and uniformed rebels had concentrated in that region, allegedly to defend it. They added that UNITA and government forces had recently been engaged in heavy combat for control of the diamond-rich area, occupied by the rebels since 1992, which is located in the Caombo district about 90 km northeast of the city of Malange. Bernardo Miguel, a priest from Cambo-Sunjinge was quoted as saying that the rebels destroyed a bridge over the Cambo River to slow the army offensive. Meanwhile, eight presumed UNITA rebels were presented to the media on Thursday by the Malange Operational Command. The rebels reportedly said they had turned themselves in to authorities in the districts of Luquembo and Kiwaba-Nzogi. About 600 civilians, most of them from Caombo and Kiwaba Nzogi, arrived in Malange city on Wednesday in the wake of recent government victories. They have been settled 8 km outside the city at the Kulamuxito camp for war refugees.