Humanitarian workers murdered

June (IRIN) - Armed men wearing uniforms of the UNITA rebel movement killed two humanitarian workers and wounded two others at the weekend when they ambushed the vehicle of a Portuguese aid agency conducting a polio vaccination campaign.

Fernando Costa Freire, spokesman for the UN Humanitarian Coordination Unit (UCAH) told IRIN the attack occurred on Saturday morning near the town of Barrata in Bengo Province just 80 km east of the capital, Luanda.

“This callous murder has deeply shocked the humanitarian community in Angola,” Freire said. “The driver and a nurse were killed, and two other nurses were wounded. All were Angolan nationals working at great personal risk for the Portuguese NGO, Instituto Portugues de Medicina Preventiva.”

He said the vehicle in which they were travelling was clearly marked. “Another shocking aspect of this attack was that the gunmen stole their watches, their shoes and other personal belongings as well as the vaccinations they were carrying before setting the vehicle alight,” Freire said.

Saturday’s ambush was the second attack on humanitarian workers since 16 April when six Angolan aid workers from Save the Children Fund were ambushed and killed near the town of Sumbe in Cuanza Sul Province 300 km from Luanda.

In a separate incident also on Saturday, the Portuguese news agency, Lusa, reported that four civilians were killed and six others wounded in an attack on their vehicle by separatists of the Front for the Liberation of the Cabinda Enclave [FLEC]. It quoted eyewitnesses as saying the attack in the northern enclave occurred near Bulo, 10 km from the Congo-Brazzaville border.