Concern over new mine attacks

The security situation around Angola’s eastern city of Luena “is of great concern” due to an increase in mine incidents, humanitarian organisations have warned. A total of 24 incidents were registered in the last two months in a 60 km perimeter around Luena, the provincial capital of Moxico. Access roads are being re-mined by what a UN report described as “unknown groups of people”. October’s toll of mine blasts was the worst so far this year with 29 people killed or wounded in 18 incidents. According to aid workers in Luena, most of the explosions occurred within a 25 km perimeter of the city. The majority of the victims were civilians. They reported that a man was recently captured by the police in Luena smuggling anti-personnel mines into the city. The aid workers said there was speculation among residents that the UNITA rebel movement was paying people to lay new mines. In the rest of the province, the government army (FAA) has reportedly surrounded the UNITA-held enclave of Cazombo on the Zambian border, the last municipality not in government hands. However, road movement is still restricted to the FAA only, and from Luena does not extend beyond Lucusse 110 km to the southeast, and Luacano 220 km to the east. Meanwhile, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has reported fresh mine incidents around the northern city of Malanje. On 2 November a WFP-hired lorry hit an anti-tank mine close to the city. On 21 October another WFP-contracted lorry detonated an anti-personnel mine in the same area. “These incidents reinforce the need for WFP to evaluate the security situation carefully before increasing the volume of road transport in the Central North Region,” the agency said.