Pretoria - The International Committee of the Red Cross was yesterday flying relief supplies into Anjouan as rebels celebrated the drubbing they had handed out to government forces sent to end their secession.
The Red Cross said in Pretoria that 40 people had been killed and 25 injured in clashes last week which saw an invasion by 300 troops from the main island of Grand Comore unexpectedly turn into a rout. Another 99 had been taken prisoner.
There were unconfirmed reports that white soldiers had been seen with the rebels. Diplomatic sources in South Africa said peace talks supervised by the OAU - which were scheduled, before the fighting broke out, to be held in Ethiopia from tomorrow - were expected to go ahead as planned.