For the first time since the end of war, in 2002, the Angolan government has soldiers to patrolling the streets of a town and conducting house searches and arrests. Since June 15, soldiers of the Angolan Armed Forces, have been deployed in the diamond-rich town of Cafunfo, in Northeastern Angola, in the aftermath of a largely women’s protest, which took place on the same day.

More than 15,000 citizens took to the streets in protest against the wave of brutal murders of female peasants, and the mutilation of their bodies in Cafunfo, Cuango municipality, in Lunda-Norte province.

“FAA soldiers are breaking into houses looking for young people to arrest,” Paula Muacassenha, one of the organisers of the protest, told Maka Angola.

On Sunday “at 9PM, soldiers arrested two brothers, Júnior and Waicela Alberto, who were sitting at home watching television. They had not taken part in the demonstration, and were arrested for no reason. Soldiers are arresting people left, right and centre, and causing terror here in Cafunfo”, said the political activist.

According to a relative, the parents had to pay 16,000 kwanzas (US $160) for the release of their sons, who had been tortured by the soldiers. The brothers had been transferred from the army to the police custody, where they were beaten again until the money was paid.

After the demonstration, at around 2 PM on Saturday, National Police officers arrested Domingos Marcos Kamone, the regional head of the Social Renovation Party (PRS), along with 17 other demonstrators. The PRS, which holds three seats in Parliament, had supported the demonstration.

The march began at 7 AM in the Bala-Bala neighbourhood, and wound its way through the main streets of Cafunfo. Women chanted religious hymns they marched.

Click here for the full story.