Original sentence: - UNITA and FNLA were mainly supported by the United States, South Africa and Zaire, while Cuba and the Soviet Union backed the MPLA.<ref> Gleijeses, Piero: Conflicting Missions: Havana, Washington, and Africa, 1959-1976 (The University of North Carolina Press)</ref.After gaining independence from Portugal, Angola became entangled in a power struggle among three major groups: MPLA, FNLA and UNITA.Cuba eventually deployed troops to Angola'.Cuba sent resources to assist in stabilizing and supporting the Angolan government against the UNITA insurgency, backed by South Africa and the US.These groups quickly became involved in a civil war and in the wider Cold War tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union
Edited sentence: A reduced detachment of Cubans remained stationed in Angola to stabilize the government in the continuing Angolan Civil War.Cuban military engagement in Angola ended in 1991.In 1988, the Cubans intervened a second time, sending 55,000 troops into battle to support the Angolans against UNITA-rebels and South Africans in southern Angola.On the eve of Angola’s independence three liberation organisations, FNLA and UNITA, mainly backed by the United States, and MPLA, backed by the Soviet Union, competed for control of the country.Preventing a South African victory, Cuban involvement was instrumental in the independence of Namibia and in the decline of the Apartheid regime.South Africa invaded from Namibia in support of UNITA and FNLA to prevent the MPLA from taking power, thus triggering Cuba’s intervention and deployment of 36,000 troops in support of the beleaguered MPLA.The MPLA alone declared independence and formed the government of Angola while UNITA staged an insurgency war supported by the US and South Africa