Conflict moves east

As Angolan government forces continue their drive on UNITA rebel positions in the central highlands, a new theatre of conflict is opening in the east of the country where analysts believe UNITA will attempt to reorganise. Moxico, Angola’s largest province, is a remote and fertile region which borders Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It is to here that UNITA forces, escaping the Angolan army’s (FAA) mid-September offensive in the central highlands, have begun to move in a well-prepared contingency plan, Western diplomats told IRIN. “Since the government’s offensive, Moxico has grown in importance for the FAA, and for UNITA as they retreat,” a security source said. “UNITA can reorganise in an area where they are relatively safe and the bush is very dense. When the rains come they will be able to move like fish in water.” Using a road cut from the bush from Gamba to Camacupa, UNITA has been able to evacuate some of its troops and equipment from its headquarters of Andulo, threatened by four advancing FAA brigades. It holds Munhango on the Bie-Moxico provincial border - the birthplace of UNITA in 1966 - and is reactivating a string of bases further north - which include at least one airstrip - at Quimbe, Sauter and Luendo. Part of a UNITA motorised brigade, out of the three the movement is believed to possess, was recently spotted at Lucusse passing through Moxico on its way east. UNITA units have also been using a corridor along the Lungue Bungo river to infiltrate from the highlands. Three new mine incidents last week close to the provincial capital Luena indicate an intensification of UNITA’s presence, security sources said. But the FAA have also been active. They have recaptured Lucusse southeast of Luena, and taken Lumbala N’guimbo and its airbase further south. That, and control of Mavinga, could block a UNITA attempt to head towards its old Jamba headquarters in Cuando Cubango Province, diplomats told IRIN. Further to the east, the FAA now holds Luau as part of a bid to prevent UNITA regrouping in the DRC and as a stepping stone to the movement’s stronghold of Cazombo close to the Zambian border. Government planes have been flying regular bombing runs on Cazombo out of Saurimo. Last week, an FAA conscription campaign in Luena saw soldiers combing the shanty homes of the city, forcibly rounding up young men for what is in reality an indefinite period of military service. “The government has superior numbers of troops and equipment but its lines of communication are extended,” a Western envoy said. “We do accept the current wisdom that the current round of fighting will eliminate UNITA’s conventional capability, but not its insurgent capability.”