Call to ex-Plan fighters to help demine Angola

A GERMAN landmine-clearing organisation, Stiftung Menschen gegen Minen e.V.

(MgM) has launched an appeal to all former Plan combatants members who were stationed in Angola’s Bengo Province to help them dismantle old minefields surrounding former training facilities for Swapo and ANC soldiers. According to the official Landmine Impact Survey (LIS) and the Angolan government’s landmine database, these suspect areas are situated in a rough triangle between Ucua, Quibaxe and Pango Aluquem, some 150 to 200 kilometres northeast of Luanda.MgM executive director Hendrik Ehlers said according to the LIS and official Angolan database, ANC and Swapo Plan fighters appear to have been involved in laying protective minefields around the bases, possibly also as part of their military training.MgM has located incomplete minefields next to the village of Paredes consisting of rows of PMN and PpMiSr bounding fragmentation mines, both anti-personnel mines designed to kill in a radius of up to 300 metres.Without clear indications of the size of the minefield, MgM would have to cut down large parts of the heavy bush that has now overgrown the area, a dangerous, costly and time-consuming process, Ehlers said.MgM needs to find out the exact dimensions of the minefield, what types of mines were used and when these were laid.MgM has been clearing landmines in the Bengo Province, the province immediately around the Angolan capital, since 1996, as well as hundreds of other locations throughout Angola.The NGO has cleared several thousand kilometres of formerly mined roads to help displaced people return to the homes that they had to abandon during Angola’s 40-year-long civil war.The Angolan civil started in the early 1960s, with three liberation movements fighting the Portuguese occupiers and often each other as well.The war came to an end with the death of rebel leader Jonas Savimbi, who was hunted with foreign help in Moxico province in early 2002.The NGO is also currently clearing vast landmine fields, laid by South African forces, in the extreme southeastern Angolan province of Cuando Cubango, considered to be one of the worst affected areas in Angola.The NGO has also appealed for any help or information on these vast minefields, laid by the South African Defence Force and Unita during the 1980s to deter attacks on their bush strongholds.Angola’s continued landmine threat, estimated to still number in millions of landmines, continues to hamper official efforts to resettle people in rural areas contested by the former rebel movement Unita and government forces.With the rainy season approaching, clearing landmines from former agricultural land has become a major safety concern as thousands of communal farmers want to start planting crops.Hundreds still die every year from accidentally detonating old landmines and other explosive devices when attempting to plough unsafe areas.”We would like to hear form anyone who think they can help us with information on the types of mines, the location of mines, when exactly they were laid,” said Ehlers in Windhoek.”We unfortunately cannot pay for information, but we would be willing to fly to the area anyone who can seriously assist us.”Former Plan combatants who may be able to help the NGO are asked to contact Patricia Luis of MgM during business hours at (061) 24 2862.All information will be treated as confidential.* John Grobler is a freelance journalist; 081 240 1587According to the official Landmine Impact Survey (LIS) and the Angolan government’s landmine database, these suspect areas are situated in a rough triangle between Ucua, Quibaxe and Pango Aluquem, some 150 to 200 kilometres northeast of Luanda.MgM executive director Hendrik Ehlers said according to the LIS and official Angolan database, ANC and Swapo Plan fighters appear to have been involved in laying protective minefields around the bases, possibly also as part of their military training.MgM has located incomplete minefields next to the village of Paredes consisting of rows of PMN and PpMiSr bounding fragmentation mines, both anti-personnel mines designed to kill in a radius of up to 300 metres.Without clear indications of the size of the minefield, MgM would have to cut down large parts of the heavy bush that has now overgrown the area, a dangerous, costly and time-consuming process, Ehlers said.MgM needs to find out the exact dimensions of the minefield, what types of mines were used and when these were laid.MgM has been clearing landmines in the Bengo Province, the province immediately around the Angolan capital, since 1996, as well as hundreds of other locations throughout Angola.The NGO has cleared several thousand kilometres of formerly mined roads to help displaced people return to the homes that they had to abandon during Angola’s 40-year-long civil war.The Angolan civil started in the early 1960s, with three liberation movements fighting the Portuguese occupiers and often each other as well.The war came to an end with the death of rebel leader Jonas Savimbi, who was hunted with foreign help in Moxico province in early 2002.The NGO is also currently clearing vast landmine fields, laid by South African forces, in the extreme southeastern Angolan province of Cuando Cubango, considered to be one of the worst affected areas in Angola.The NGO has also appealed for any help or information on these vast minefields, laid by the South African Defence Force and Unita during the 1980s to deter attacks on their bush strongholds.Angola’s continued landmine threat, estimated to still number in millions of landmines, continues to hamper official efforts to resettle people in rural areas contested by the former rebel movement Unita and government forces.With the rainy season approaching, clearing landmines from former agricultural land has become a major safety concern as thousands of communal farmers want to start planting crops.Hundreds still die every year from accidentally detonating old landmines and other explosive devices when attempting to plough unsafe areas.”We would like to hear form anyone who think they can help us with information on the types of mines, the location of mines, when exactly they were laid,” said Ehlers in Windhoek.”We unfortunately cannot pay for information, but we would be willing to fly to the area anyone who can seriously assist us.”Former Plan combatants who may be able to help the NGO are asked to contact Patricia Luis of MgM during business hours at (061) 24 2862.All information will be treated as confidential.* John Grobler is a freelance journalist; 081 240 1587