February 22: On This Day in World History … briefly

2002:  Angolan leader killed in military ambush

Jonas Malheiro Savimbi was an anti-communist and anti-colonialist Angolan political and military leader who founded and led the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). UNITA first waged a guerrilla war against Portuguese colonial rule, 1966 – 1974, then confronted the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) during the Angolan Civil War until Savimbi’s death in a clash with government troops in 2002.

After surviving more than a dozen assassination attempts, and having been reported dead at least 15 times, Savimbi was killed on February 22, 2002, in a battle with Angolan government troops along riverbanks in the province of Moxico, his birthplace. In the firefight, Savimbi sustained 15 gunshot wounds to his head, throat, upper body and legs. While Savimbi returned fire, his wounds proved fatal; he died almost instantly.

Savimbi’s somewhat mystical reputation for eluding the Angolan military and their Soviet and Cuban military advisors led many Angolans to question the validity of reports of his 2002 death. Not until pictures of his bloodied and bullet-riddled body appeared on Angolan state television, and the United States State Department subsequently confirmed it, did the reports of Savimbi’s death in combat gain credence in the country. Savimbi was interred in Luena Main Cemetery in Luena, Moxico Province. On January 3, 2008, Savimbi’s tomb was vandalised and four members of the youth wing of the MPLA were charged and arrested. His body was exhumed and reburied publicly in 2019.

Most notable historic snippets or facts extracted from the book ‘On This Day’ first published in 1992 by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, London, as well as additional supplementary information extracted from Wikipedia.

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