Army consolidates M’Banza Congo capture

As Angolan government forces consolidated the recapture from UNITA rebels of the northern Zaire Province capital of M’banza Congo this week, the humanitarian community said it was concerned at reports that the local hospital had been ransacked. According to the the UN Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Unit (UCAH) on Thurday, the humanitarian community was still waiting to be able to return to the city to assess the situation. “There are reports, however, that the local hospital was ransacked and equipment looted or destroyed,” it said. The recapture of M’banza Congo, a strategic city on the main road to coastal oil installations and the northern border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was announced on national television by General Joao de Matos, chief of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) during a visit there on 13 February. In reports carried by the official press this week, the government also announced the capture of Songo, a town 40 from Uige city in northern Angola on 9 February. The next day, in the northwest province of Lunda Norte, it announced the recapture of Luo Diamond mine 48 hours after it had been seized by UNITA forces. The mine has an output worth an estimated US $800,000, according to government estimates. It said two unidentified South Africans working at Luo had been killed by retreating UNITA forces.