Angolan army says 10 UNITA fighters killed in raid

LUANDA, Angola (Reuters) -- The Angolan government army said on Tuesday its troops had killed 10 UNITA rebels in a clash on Monday in Catete, 60 kilometers (36 miles) southeast of Luanda.

UNITA guerrillas killed four civilians during the fighting, which erupted when they staged a raid on food aid stores maintained by the Catholic church, a government military spokesman told church-run Radio Ecclesia.

"The aim of the attack was the church's stores of U.N. World Food Programme supplies," the spokesman said.

"They took almost everything because they brought 150 to 200 people to carry the supplies," the spokesman said, adding that UNITA also attacked a police station, residences of local government officials and a military command post.

There was no independent confirmation of the government version of events.

"UNITA has deployed troops and concentrated its principal forces in a line linking Catete, Luanda, Dondo in Cuanza North province and Malange," the spokesman said. That area covers the main roads southeast of the capital.

Vehicles on roads near Catete were attacked on Tuesday morning, he added. He gave no details.

The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) led by Jonas Savimbi has been fighting a civil war against the government for 25 years, in which at least one million people have been killed and millions more displaced.

A peace accord crumbled in 1998. Government advances over the past year have forced UNITA to adopt a hit and run guerrilla campaign across the southwest African country.

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