Luanda’s railway under attack

Press, 6 August 1976, Page 5

Luanda’s railway under attack

NZPA-Reuter Lusa':< Guerrillas opposing Angola’s Left-wing Government are making regular nightly attacks on the 2000 kilometre Beneguela railway linking Zaire and Zambia with the Atlantic Ocean, according to railway sources in Lusaka. The British-owned line, closed during the civil war. was the main outlet for the mineral riches of the land-locked copper belts of Zambia and Zaire. The sources said the attacks were believed to be part of a fresh campaign by the nationalist movement, Unita, one of the two rival movements defeated by the Sovietbacked Popular Movement for the Liberation of .Angola (M.P.L.A.). The M.P.L.A. under its leader, Mr Agostinbo Neto, now governs Angola with the help of several thousand Cuban troops and technicians. The sources said the guerrillas were ripping up sections of the rail track virtually every night. They were occuping Cuban troops and Government forces, who had to stand guard while rail workers repaired the line.