UNITA pursued into Angola

Namibian forces have set up bases inside Angola in an operation aimed at ending UNITA rebel raids in northeastern Namibia, a move a local human rights group has condemned as a dangerous escalation in Windhoek’s involvement in the Angolan conflict.

Last week the Namibian Defence Force (NDF) confirmed that its troops had launched operations inside Angola, press reports said. President Sam Nujoma told a rally in northern Namibia on Friday that the Angolan government had been informed of the cross-border campaign, and that “every Namibian patriot should be ready to be called to fight the bandits”.

Describing the military operation as a “mistake”, Namibia’s National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) said the NDF was operating 60 km inside Angola from former UNITA bases at Calai, Kakuchi and across from the Caprivi Strip near Omega.

“We are extremely worried that this is going to drag Namibia much deeper into a conflict which is not Namibia’s business,” NSHR director Phil ya Nangoloh told IRIN on Monday. “It will lead to a deterioration of the humanitarian and human rights situation in Angola, will waste resources, and will contribute to instability in the region.”

He said the prevailing insecurity in northeast Namibia, with UNITA attacks on villages, road ambushes, and raids on military targets, was a consequence of the government’s decision in December to allow the Angolan army to use Namibian territory in pursuit of the rebels.

“UNITA was not a threat to Namibia. Now it’s reacting to attacks by Angolan soldiers based here,” ya Nangoloh alleged.