UNITA admit attacking Boeing

UNITA rebels said they attacked a Boeing 727 plane over eastern Angola last week, but stopped short of admitting they were responsible for a missile strike on a WFP chartered aircraft in the region, AFP reported on Tuesday. “Around 11 o’clock, one of our aerial defence teams launched a missile against a Boeing 727 that was landing at the Luena airport,” a UNITA statement issued in Lisbon was quoted as saying.

WFP and the United Nations humanitarian coordination office in Angola said in a joint statement on Monday that they “vehemently” repudiated the attack. “This unprovoked act of violence demonstrates the level of personal danger - both in the manner of direct and indiscriminate fire - faced by humanitarian personnel working to deliver aid to the country’s most vulnerable population,” the statement said.

The chartered aircraft, painted white and clearly marked with WFP insignia, was hit at 15,000 feet, some 18 km from the eastern Angolan town of Luena as it began a spiral descent towards the town’s airstrip. Nobody was killed in the attack in which the missile failed to explode. The crew were able to land safely.