Government and UNITA claim major victories

Angolan government troops have retaken the rebel-held town of Mavinga in the southern province of Cuando Cubango a state-run newspaper reported on Monday. "Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) recaptured Mavinga on 1 May, having caused various losses to Jonas Savimbi's terrorist forces," 'Jornal de Angola' said, quoting an unnamed military source. The report added that the government has also recaptured the nearby airport, vital for supplying UNITA and for the export of raw materials. "The airport was not only being used for military resupply but also for trafficking ivory and diamonds," Jornal said, adding that the FAA had captured "enormous quantities" of arms in the rebel stronghold about 1,000 km southeast of Luanda. Meanwhile, in their boldest attack in months, UNITA rebels overran a town near the capital, Luanda, killing 79 people and interrogating foreign aid workers, AP reported on Monday, quoting officials. More than 200 rebels attacked Caxito, a town of 50,000 people 60 km north of Luanda, at dawn on Saturday, the army said in a statement. The statement did not provide casualty figures but an aid official in Luanda who was in contact with colleagues in Caxito said 79 Angolans, including soldiers, police officers and civilians, were killed. Foreign aid workers, including 14 Danes, were reportedly "very traumatised" and did not want to speak to the press, the official said. Their identities were not immediately made available. They were working for an Angolan aid group, known by its Portuguese acronym ADPP. State television put the death toll at over 100 and reported that at least 120 people, mainly students, were abducted by UNITA soldiers after they had ransacked buildings for food and money. In a statement sent by e-mail to the AP bureau in Lisbon, Portugal, UNITA claimed it killed 37 soldiers and police officers in the attack. Aid workers from the United States, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Brazil and Hungary were questioned by rebel officers, according to the statement. The army dislodged UNITA from its central highland strongholds 15 months ago and retook control of all the country's major cities, some of which were under rebel siege, in a major offensive. But Savimbi, who has led UNITA for more than 30 years, has divided his army into highly mobile guerrilla units that are staging hit-and-run attacks against government positions. Continuing insecurity in the central highland province of Huambo has affected education, the SABC's external service 'Channel Africa' reported. Teachers from villages in the war-wracked province are refusing to return to their homes for fear of their safety. Aid workers said the flight of teachers from the villages has left many children in Huambo's villages unable to attend school for years. The province's education and culture agency has launched a programme to try to entice teachers back to the villages, but so far that campaign has failed. Teachers said ongoing fighting between government and rebel forces prevented them from performing their duties.