Huambo shelled, warfare intensifies

Angola’s second-largest city Huambo was subjected to intense shelling by UNITA forces on Wednesday in which at least five people died. According to a report by the Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Unit (UCAH) in Luanda received by IRIN, the shelling started at lunchtime on Wednesday. Angolan government radio broadcasts said at least five people had been killed in the bombardment. Huambo, a city crammed with displaced people fleeing hostilities in the central highlands, is held by the Angolan government and has been used by the army to fly in reinforcements for fighting in surrounding areas. Western diplomats told IRIN the shelling of Huambo by UNITA had further compromised a request by the UN for a ceasefire to allow a search for a UN-chartered plane which crashed shortly after take-off from the city on Saturday. Although the plane was found intact, according to UN officials, the siege by UNITA rebels of the city over the past two weeks and the latest shelling diminished hopes of finding survivors among the 10 passengers and four crew members. UCAH says situation “catastrophic” The heaviest fighting of recent weeks has been centered around Huambo, and the neighbouring central highlands town, Kuito, some 120 km to the northeast. In its latest situation report, UCAH said the number of people seeking shelter in Kuito had jumped from 10,000 at the beginning of the month to 40,000 on New Year’s eve. In Huambo, which accommodated 7,000 internally displaced people at the beginning of the month, the number of people crammed into the city has risen to 80,000, it said. “The ongoing warfare is provoking general instability and growing tension throughout Angola,” UCAH said. “This has led to an in increase in the displacement of civilian population all over the country.” It cited an “alarming” increase of displaced people in Angola from 350,000 in early December to nearly 470,000 indicating “that the humanitarian situation is reaching a catastrophic level. Not only IDP’s are seriously affected, but their host communities are also vulnerable.” Humanitarian aid deliveries disrupted With most roads too dangerous to travel, and Kuito airport closed for the past two weeks because of heavy bombardments, costly humanitarian airlifts were used to dispatch aid to Huambo. However, that airport too was now closed following the crash of the UN plane and the latest shelling. Elsewhere in the country, UCAH also reported a deteriorating situation in Benguela province, where people were fleeing towards the town of Balombo, while in Bengo province, people had been fleeing to the town of Caxito from Kuanza Norte province. In Malange, displaced children were suffering from serious food shortages. In all areas where fighting was reported, humanitarian stocks were diminishing. “The existing humanitarian food and non-food stocks are being swiftly exhausted,” the report said. “A quick infusion of these items as well as medical supplies, is essential before mid-January 1999, when stocks are expected to be depleted.”