Annan condemns attack on WFP relief planes in Angola

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has strongly condemned the 15 June attack in Angola against two planes chartered by the World Food Programme (WFP), his spokesman said today in New York.

While it was fortunate that there were no casualties, spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva said, Mr. Annan reiterated that the heinous targeting of relief personnel, carrying out humanitarian operations on the basis of impartiality and neutrality, was unacceptable.

The spokesman said that Friday's attack, launched as the aircraft were carrying food supplies to Kuito, was the second against WFP flights in the last 10 days and directly impacted on the well-being of Angola's most vulnerable civilians. At present, Kuito has only two days of emergency food stocks to sustain more than 200,000 people, he added.