http://www.boston.com/dailynews/225/world/Angola_rebels_claim_responsibi:.shtml

Angola rebels claim responsibility for train ambush that left 152 people dead

By Associated Press, 8/13/2001 18:47

LISBON, Portugal (AP) Rebels in Angola claimed responsibility Monday for a train ambush in the northwest of the African nation that killed 152 people, saying the train was a legitimate military target.

The train carrying about 500 refugees fleeing fighting between the government and rebel forces hit a mine Friday, derailed and burst into flames before coming under attack by gunmen. Many of the dead were trapped in the train and were burned alive, government officials said.

In a statement sent by electronic mail to The Associated Press in Portugal, the former colonial power in Angola, UNITA Gen. Geraldo Abreu Kamorteiro claimed the train had a large military and police escort and was carrying munitions and other army supplies.

The rebels ''attacked and completely destroyed'' the train, killing 26 soldiers and 11 police, the statement said.

It said the rebels seized automatic weapons, an anti-aircraft gun and large amounts of ammunition.

Government officials in Angola were not immediately available for comment. They previously had said the train had no army escort.

Emergency workers on Sunday buried 152 dead in a common grave near the wreck, about 80 miles from Luanda, the capital, the Roman Catholic radio station Ecclesia reported. At least 146 people were wounded.

The ambush was believed to be the deadliest single rebel attack since the civil war resumed in 1998, when a four-year-old peace accord brokered by the United Nations collapsed.

Two of the train's cars were carrying drums of gasoline that exploded, engulfing adjoining carriages, Ecclesia reported.

Civilians trying to flee the fire were gunned down, according to survivors.

More than 3 million people about a quarter of Angola's population have been driven from their homes by fighting that has raged since Angola's 1975 independence from Portugal.

-- Anonymous, August 14, 2001

Answers

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/227/world/Death_toll_in_Angolan_refuge e_:.shtml

Death toll in Angolan refugee train ambush rises to 252

By Associated Press, 8/15/2001 13:36

LUANDA, Angola (AP) The death toll in the ambush of a refugee train by Angolan rebels rose Wednesday to 252 after rescue workers identified another 100 bodies in the smoldering wreck, the government said.

The train carrying more than 500 people fleeing the fighting between the government and UNITA rebels hit two mines Friday, derailing and bursting into flames. UNITA guerrillas then sprayed the survivors with gunfire.

The Angolan government said in a report to the United Nations that another 100 bodies had been pulled from the wreckage or identified since Monday, when the death toll was put at 152. The search for bodies continued.

The dead were being buried in a mass grave near the ambush site, the radio station Ecclesia reported.

UNITA claimed in a statement that the train was carrying troops and munitions as it headed from the capital, Luanda, to the southern city of Dondo.

Although the army has denied troops were on the train, a survivor told the Angolan state television station TPA that at least 50 soldiers were on board.

TPA showed pictures of people with severe burns being taken to hospitals in Luanda, 80 miles away. Official figures said 165 people were injured.

Meanwhile, Roman Catholic bishops in eight African countries appealed to both sides to stop the war.

''In the name of Christ and the suffering Angolan people we ask Angola's president and UNITA's leader to meet in a neutral place for talks to end the war,'' they said in a joint statement quoted by Portugal's government-run agency, Lusa.

Angolan bishops meeting in Luanda also issued a statement calling for a cease-fire.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan also condemned the attack and blamed UNITA ''for this indefensible loss of life.''

''This incident underlines the urgent need for a political settlement of the conflict, to achieve durable peace and stability in Angola,'' Annan said Tuesday.

President Jose Eduardo dos Santos said the attack cast further doubt on UNITA chief Jonas Savimbi's claims that he is ready to negotiate an end to the civil war.

More than 3 million people about a quarter of Angola's population have been driven from their homes by fighting that has raged since Angola's 1975 independence from Portugal.

The rebels are increasingly attacking military and civilian targets in rural areas, claiming they are responding to an army offensive. Human rights groups accuse both sides of routinely committing atrocities.

-- Anonymous, August 15, 2001

Never mind atrocities, do they have an allegedly discriminatory death penalty?

-- Anonymous, August 16, 2001

seems the death penalty is only for train passengers...

-- Anonymous, August 16, 2001