Word: cuango
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...anything, Savimbi seems to be attempting to expand his diamond operations. This fall he launched a violent push into the diamond-rich northern Cuango Valley that has forced the state mining company to withdraw most of its staff. In recent weeks the Angolan army has claimed successful attacks against UNITA--most notably a powerful strike that destroyed Savimbi's military headquarters at Bailundo. UNITA's attack on the Cuango diamond holdings is seen as a retaliation and a bold attempt to re-establish control over the area that produces Angola's most valuable precious stones...
...trade in uncut diamonds was intended to soak up rough stones that people had illegally hoarded down through the years. Instead, because the move made it vastly easier to unload illegally dug diamonds, it further spurred the stampede to Lunda Norte. Cafunfo, a town of 5,000 on the Cuango River, mushroomed to 50,000 people, who live mainly in corrugated-iron shacks. "It's like the Wild West," says Gallegos, who visited the region recently. "The law of the gun prevails...