UNITA attacks Uige

Angolan UNITA rebels raided the northern town of Uige early on Tuesday and injured 34 people during a five-hour gun battle with government troops, Reuters reported. Portuguese news agency LUSA quoted local military sources as saying 10 rebels were killed in the second attack in seven weeks on Uige, 250km northeast of Luanda. "There was a huge clash with Angolan government troops which lasted five hours or so," an aid official said. "It must have been a large group of rebels because the fighting went on so long."

The rebels retreated and broke into two groups. One headed southwest and the other southeast, straight into a rapid reaction police force, which resulted in further gun battles, the official said. About one million people have been killed and some 3.9 million have been forced from their homes in Angola's 26-year civil war, which has pitted UNITA against the MPLA government in Luanda. Since earlier this year both sides have called for talks with little success.

The attack came on the same day Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos and his Namibian and Zambian counterparts blamed UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi for blocking moves to end the war and urged the world to enforce U.N. sanctions against UNITA.
The three leaders made their plea at the end of talks in Zambia on border security and regional stability.