WHAT...

The Angolan Civil War a 25 year dispute between the people of Angola left nearly 500,000 thousand people dead, and many more injured. Angola fought their civil war against Portugal until they won their independence on November 11, 1975. Angola first became a colony in 1576 and during their colonial rule, Portugal sent many Angolans to Brazil as slaves. Angola is also known for their diamond mines, and since 1992 the illegal smuggling of diamonds has occurred. Diamonds were most commonly smuggled from Angola to Zaire and Antwerp. The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) directed by Dr. Jonas Savimbi helped Angola win the war, UNITA was responsible for nearly 10 to 20 million land mines all over Angola. During the civil war UNITA took over the control of many diamond mines in Angola, the profits from the diamonds supplied UNITA's money, fuel, and arms/weaponry for the civil war. On March 11, 1998 UNITA was recognized officially as a political party, later that same year a splinter party broke off from UNITA and demanded to be recognized. This further fueled the fight, and in late 1998 all out warfare resumed in Angola. Although the UN has involved themselves in the Angolan civil war on March 10, 2000 a UN report accused African leaders of fueling the war through the diamond and arms trading which was a violation of their sanctions. Soon after this report, in August of 2000, intense fighting erupted in Eastern Angola.