2001 Angola train attack

2001 Angola train attack
Location	Angola
Date	10 August 2001
Deaths	252
Injured	165
Perpetrators	UNITA

The 2001 Angola train attack was an attack during the Angolan Civil War when on 10 August 2001 UNITA forces derailed a train travelling between towns of Zenza and Dondo with an anti-tank mine and then attacked the passengers with small arms fire.

History

The Angolan Civil War had been going on since 1975 and was a legacy of the cold war. As part of its ongoing efforts to overthrow the government, the 2001 Angola train attack occurred on 10 August 2001 when a passenger train in Angola hit an anti-tank mine placed on the track by National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) rebels. After its derailment, rebels attacked the passengers with gunfire, killing around 250 people of the 500 who were on the train. The attack took place about 150 kilometres (93 mi) south-east of the capital, Luanda. On 16 August 2001, members of the United Nations Security Council strongly condemned the attack, calling it a "terrorist attack".

On August 13, UNITA took responsibility for the attack.

See also

• Angolan Civil War
• Transport in Angola
• List of terrorist incidents involving railway systems

References

Notes

Bibliography

• ICtBL (2002). Landmine monitor report 2002: toward a mine-free world (2002 ed.). Human Rights Watch. ISBN 1-56432-277-7. - Total pages: 922
• Osmańczyk, Edmund Jan; Mango, Anthony (2003). Encyclopedia of the United Nations and International Agreements: A to F (2003 ed.). Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0-415-93921-6. - Total pages: 2941
• Riley, Jack (March 2004). "Terrorism and Rail Security". RAND Corporation. docstoc.com: 1–14. Retrieved March 25, 2010.