A key UNITA general defected to the Angolan government. The rebel commander was identified as General Jacinto Ricardo Bandua, once an aide to UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi. Bandua had served as a senior UNITA supply officer. According to reports, Bandua said he "fell out with Savimbi" near the town of Andulo. UN and international sources estimate one million Angolans have died in the civil war that began in 1975.
The UNITA rebels now admit that the Angolan government captured the towns of Ballundo and Andulo during October fighting. --Stephen V Cole