UNITA using “new tactics” against Angolan Armed Forces

A Bie operational commander was quoted on Radio Ecclesia as saying that UNITA is using new tactics to combat the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA). In an interview with the station on Monday, FAA Brigadier Eugenio Figueiredo said UNITA’s new strategy to obtain food and weapons was to carry out attacks using small mobile groups.

“The enemy is using other ways of fighting our troops, such as guerrilla activities. At this moment the enemy doesn’t have an exact location and the situation is worrying. It is worrying because it is very difficult to overcome guerrilla activities. This is not like the old guerrillas - rather, these are ones who are trying to find means of survival and material goods to sustain themselves. The old guerrillas were more compact because they had the assistance of the people who worked on the farms. These don’t have such assistance, and therefore they have to steal to survive,” he said.

The interview came amid news of a number of reported UNITA attacks in the past four days. The Catholic radio station reported that according to local police sources, a UNITA attack on the Camacupa municipality of Bie on Friday night left at least three people dead, one of them a child. The raid took place in the Sao Domingos area - about 1 km from the residence of Governor Luis Paulino dos Santos. Five people were also kidnapped, the station said.

It also reported that six people were killed and another six wounded on Sunday when armed men opened fire on a truck transporting freight in the Lunda Sul capital, Saurimo, about 800 km east of Luanda. According to the station, military sources blamed the attack on UNITA, which has in the past targeted trucks travelling between towns for supplies.

In another development, Portuguese radio reported on Monday that UNITA announced it had attacked and occupied the Sao Lucas commune between the strategic village of Mussende and the municipality of Calucinga, in Cuanza Sul Province. According to a UNITA military communique issued on Monday, it had carried out successful operations in the provinces of Zaire, Uige, Cuanza Sul, Huambo, Bie and Huila between 1 April and 20 April.