Angola hasn't known a day of peace since 1956, when local ribel tribes united  in a 19 long struggle to reach indipendence from Portugal. The indipendentistic movement was constituted by 3 different groups, the MPLA (Movement Populaire pour la Liberation de l'Angola), backed by USSR and Cuba, the FNLA (Front National de Liberation de l'Angola), backed by USA and Zaire, and the UNITA (Union National pour l'Indipendence Total de l'Angola), formally backed by Namibia, but actually supported by South Africa. On November 11, 1975, with the conquest of Luanda, capital city of Angola, by MPLA troops, the formal indipendence was signed, in 1976 the Angolan Republic was recognized by the UN, in 1979 Edoardo DOS SANTOS, leader of the MPLA, became president of Angola, and civil war became. 

For 14 years, the Angolan civil war has been a mirror of the international balance between the two major superpowers. South Africa and Cuba, through their interference in the conflict and in the internal affairs of Angola, have represented the opposition between USA, unofficial supporter of the UNITA, and USSR, backing up the MPLA. With the end of the cold war, the conflict got to a turning point. In 1989, Angola, Cuba and South Africa signed a peace treaty which put an end to the foreign interference in the Angolan life, recognized Namibian indipendence from S. Africa, and instituted, in 1991, the first cease fire since 1956, 35 years before.

On September 28-29, 1992, Angola had its first democratic elections, under the UN supervision. At the first turn Dos Santos obtained the 49.4% of votes, and a second turn was needed. Jonas SAVIMBI, leader of UNITA, didn't recognize the elections results, ignored the cease fire and resumed the guerrilla.

In 1994, after the arriving of a UN peacekeeping force, another peace deal was signed. Savimbi accepted to become vice-president. Since 1994 to 1997, the integration of the UNITA troops in the governative army was begun, as the integration of the territorys under the control of the UNITA in the state administration. The government was led by the GNUR (Government of National Unity and Reconciliation), and the warfare was officially stopped, though banditism and militar pressure was always at the top. In 1997, after the UN troops had left, Savimbi declared closed every negotiation and started the guerrilla which has been going on till nowadays.

Since the indipendence, the Angolan civil war has left almost a million of the 10-million population displaced, and thousands killed. The Angolan government have 100,000 soldiers, the largest standing army in Africa. UNITA have 70,000 troops, who are well-trained and experienced bush war fighters. Backed by Zambia and Uganda, UNITA occupies more than one third of the mineral and oil rich country. It is understood that payment for military assistance and supplies is made in diamonds. Last year international agencies estimated that UNITA's haul from diamond mining stood in excess of $600-million per year.

The main strategy of the MPLA consists in large attacks to UNITA's strongholds using modern arsenals and weapons. Recently, Angolan government has received from different foreign partners, 8 Su27 with night vision flying equipment, about 70 tanks T72 and T54, 7 new radar systems and a newly deployed Beachcraft - Kingair - aerial surveillance.  The air force is used mostly for saturation air bombardments including napalm, cluster and the so-called "poor man’s atomic bomb", to "soften the targets", before ground troops are ordered in.

UNITA tactics has changed in the last 3 years. The rebel guerrilla, starting from the many territorys under its control, prefers to attack civil targets, as towns, villages, refugee camps, more than military targets. Also, UNITA troops seem to be controlling many of the main Angolan routes, allowing them to block any aid to the government, both militar than humanitarian. The block of towns, more similar to some kind of medieval siege, causes every day 200 of deaths for malnutrition. Yet, in spite to the MPLA immobilism and radical politics of intransigence versus UNITA's requests, in spite to the increasing corruption in the government and to the mounting censorship concerning medias and jurnalists, the UN Security Council has named UNITA as "the primary cause of the current crisis, and has demanded that the organization comply immediately and without conditions with its obligations to demilitarize and permit the extension of State administration to areas under its control.".