Fresh refugee influx

Zambian immigration officials have warned they are expecting an influx of more Angolan refugees into the southwest corner of the country as fighting across the border intensifies, UNHCR told IRIN on Tuesday. According to the authorities, 103 refugees arrived at the border post of Shangombo on Sunday and Monday. UNHCR has been unable to confirm the figure, but said last week 42 Angolans crossed into Kalabo district further to the north. Philip Ramaga, the head of UNHCR’s Mongu sub-office in Zambia’s Western province, described the condition of the first group of refugees as “very poor” compared to earlier influxes. “The fighting has just worsened things,” he told IRIN. Meanwhile, the Portuguese news agency Lusa on Monday reported a UNITA claim that its forces had attacked Angolan and Namibian troops in the southeastern Rivungo region of Cuando Cubango province on 19 August. The communiqué, issued in Lisbon, alleged that 13 Angolan and 9 Namibian soldiers died in the fighting. Rivungo borders Shangombo, and is east of the strategic Angolan town of Mavinga, which was recently also the scene of clashes between the two sides.