Civilians bear brunt of the war

The small provincial hospital in the central highlands city of Kuito offers a window into the misery and confusion of Angola's civil war. Alongside the regular hernia and orthopeadic patients in the clean but cramped wards are the tragic victims of this renewed conflict - civilians recovering from landmine injuries, those wounded in the regular shelling of the city by UNITA rebels, and people deliberately shot by both the rebels and allegedly by government security forces. During an IRIN visit to the besieged government-held city, humanitarian sources said new mines have been laid this year on Kuito's outskirts by the rebels and the army. But according to hospital staff, in recent weeks they have seen fewer landmine cases but more victims of shootings. At least three people have undergone reconstructive surgery in the past month in the well-equipped hospital after being deliberately shot in the face by UNITA troops. Enrico Sambovo is among those lucky to be alive. He stayed behind when UNITA overran Katabola - about 50 km from Kuito - to work his land and look after his property. But on 8 July, after the government had retaken the town, he and his cousin were caught in their field by UNITA men. He was blindfolded, stripped and stabbed repeatedly. His cousin died, but he survived horrific injuries. Perhaps even more unsettling are the cases of alleged civilian shootings by the security forces. Each night in Kuito gunfire crackles out from edgy sentries and apparently intoxicated police and soldiers. Provincial vice-governor Antonio Gonzalves told IRIN that civilians have not been deliberate targets, but that firing in the air by drunken security personnel could inadvertently cause casualties. He said that stepped-up patrols had reduced such incidents. But in Kuito hospital IRIN talked to people who said they had been the recent victims of police shootings. One elderly woman, her left leg shattered by a bullet, said she had been shot by a policeman after she had refused to carry his belongings on account of her age. In a neighbouring ward, a young woman moaned in pain from bullet wounds to her buttocks and thighs she also said were the result of police gunfire. One Angolan commentator told IRIN that human rights violations by both UNITA and government forces had to be condemned. But ultimately the cause of the country's suffering was the war itself, which is claiming "a generation of Angolans". He added: "Both sides are equally to blame for the situation on the ground. Both sides have brought extreme misery to the civilian population."