Aid agencies said the death toll could be much higher. Initially, the death toll was reported at 79. They have been fighting the Luanda government since independence from Portugal in 1975. The rebels kidnapped 51 boys and nine girls aged 10 to 18 from a boarding school for war orphans at around midnight on Saturday, said Mike Viholm, spokesman for Development Aid from People to People, which runs the school. Two adults were also seized.
Rebels commonly use children to cook, clean and carry supplies.
Older boys are often forced to fight and the girls become concubines. Four children escaped but the rest have not been seen since. A woman who escaped from the rebels also told the church radio that the raiders had planned to kill the governor of Caxito and the local police commander. The agencies and the United Nations strongly condemned the kidnappings, but officials said they did not hold out much hope for the safe return of the children. The dead included a government soldier, four policemen and four Angolan aid agency workers.