Zenza railway stop

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The Zenza railway attack was the attack on a mixed train on August 10, 2001 on a branch line of the Luanda Railway . 252 people were murdered.

Starting position

The attack happened in Angola during the civil war . An estimated 500,000 people died in the decades of civil war between government forces and the rebel movement UNITA . 2.5 million were displaced.

The attack happened on the railway line from Zenza do Itombe to Dondo , a branch of the Luanda Railway. The route between Luanda and Dondo was one of the few that was still driven after the ravages of the civil war. She hadn't been attacked for several years and was therefore considered safe. The connection was offered three times a week.

The train consisted of several passenger cars and freight cars , including tank cars , which were loaded with fuel . With the train traveled about 500 Civil War - refugees from Luanda to Dondo. Other reports apparently assume that the travelers were not civil war refugees but rather “normal” travelers. Some of them also traveled on freight cars. The train was only accompanied by a small security escort.

the accident

The train was on a tank mine which of UNITA was designed -Rebellen and derailed , the fuel in the tank cars also exploded and the fire eventually spread to the whole train on and lasted for more than 24 hours. According to other reports, "only" the locomotive's fuel tank ignited. Some of the injured were also burned.

For the following the derailment event, there are two variants: either should snipers opened fire on the passengers and then discontinued. Or - other representation - stormed the terrorists to train and shot with handguns on travelers and train staff on civilians who tried to flee.

UNITA confessed to the attack and claimed that the train carried a battalion of government army soldiers and transported weapons. The attack was UNITA's first major operation since 1999, when it had been massively displaced by government forces. The raid was also the first of its kind.

consequences

252 people died - including those who were shot - 165 others were injured. A large number of the dead were buried in a mass grave directly at the scene of the accident .

The Secretary General of the United Nations , Kofi Annan , described the attack as "inexcusable" and blamed UNITA for the dead.

literature

  • Anthony Mango et al. January Osmanczyk: Encyclopedia of the United Nations and International Agreements: A to F . 2003. ISBN 0-415-93921-6
  • Jack Riley: Terrorism and Rail Security . 2004.

Web links

German:

English:

Remarks

  1. ^ WG Friedensforschung: Armistice names August 11th as the day of the attack.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Justin Pearce: Angola train toll rises , BBC News August 12, 2001
  2. ↑ a b c d e Rebels claim Angolan train attack , BBC News August 13, 2001
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g WG Peace Research: Armistice between government and Unita rebels agreed (probably from April 2002)
  4. ↑ a b c d e f Chris Talbot: Train bombing signals new UNITA offensive in Angola , World Socialist Web Site, 23 August 2001
  5. ↑ a b c 91 dead after attack on refugee train , faz.net August 12, 2001
  6. ↑ a b c International Campaign to Ban Landmines (Ed.): Monitoring progress in eliminating landmines, cluster munitions, and other explosive remnants of war . 2002, note 19.