UNITA rebels disband their military wing

The military wing of Angola's UNITA movement has disbanded, the latest stage in a peace process started after the death in combat…

The military wing of Angola's UNITA movement has disbanded, the latest stage in a peace process started after the death in combat of the group's founder, Jonas Savimbi.

Angop, the government's official news agency, said on Saturday the disbanding took place at a ceremony in the capital Luanda on Friday.

"UNITA military forces were Friday officially disbanded," Angop said.

The disbanding was originally scheduled for July 20 but that deadline was missed, raising concerns about a possible setback to peace in the southwest African nation that has known little but ruinous civil war since independence from Portugal in 1975.

READ MORE

Angop said 18 UNITA generals were commissioned and integrated into the Angolan army.

It said 5,000 UNITA soldiers would be assimilated into the regular armed forces and close to 80,000 other former fighters would be demobilised and integrated into civilian life.

Analysts have said only about 10,000 to 15,000 UNITA soldiers were still active in the bush when the two sides signed a historic ceasefire in April, triggered by Savimbi's death in a gun battle in February.

But it remains unclear how many have actually laid down their arms and UNITA is said to have deep political divisions.

The war in the oil and diamond rich nation is believed to have killed about a million people and displaced millions more. One of its worst legacies lies beneath its fertile soil in the form of landmines, which are strewn across the country.