Government reinforces Kuito

An Angolan government military build-up is underway in the central highlands city of Kuito ahead of an expected offensive to secure the provincial capital, diplomatic sources told IRIN on Tuesday.

"The town is calm but there is evidence that some important military operation is planned for the coming days," the sources said. "Heavy material has been transported from Luanda and reinforcements have been sent."

Shelling by UNITA last week forced the evacuation of "non-essential" UN and NGO staff from the besieged government-held city. Rounds fell close to the WFP office on 6-7 September. Following UNITA's capture of Catabola to the northeast, there have also been reports of heavy fighting on the road to Chipeta, a town 30 km from Kuito.

Only local humanitarian staff remain in the city, but food distribution to some 71,000 of the most vulnerable displaced has been uninterrupted. Food stocks are available in the city, and WFP has restarted its humanitarian airlift after flights to Kuito were temporarily suspended last week as a security precaution.

Humanitarian sources in Luanda said they were adopting a wait-and-see approach over the return of international staff to the city - home to around 130,000 residents - which was devastated in intense fighting in 1993.

Meanwhile, a government military build-up continues in besieged Huambo southwest of Kuito and Malanje in the north. "The government is aiming to widen the security perimeter around the provincial capitals before the rainy season," an aid official told IRIN. The rains are expected to start in the central highlands in October and have already begun in the north.