Share & more
About 3,500 villagers have fled their homes in Zambia’s Northwestern Province, which borders Angola, following attacks by suspected UNITA rebels.
A UNICEF spokesman in Lusaka told IRIN on Friday that the group were in the Chavuma area, just south of the Angola-Zambia border. “It is a very miserable situation,” the spokesman said. “These people have had their cattle and other household items stolen.”
He said that WFP was preparing an “intervention” into the area, and that a coordination meeting between the various UN agencies and the government, would take place on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, media reports said on Friday that Zambian troops had been “urgently” deployed to the border with Angola. Zambia’s Defence Minister, Chitalu Sampa was quoted as saying that the government “had no alternative but to deploy regular army units” to the border area.
Sampa said: “The situation is bad. People need food, blankets, and shelter and we are doing everything possible to address the situation.”
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
