Angola Troops Capture Rebel Headquarters

LUANDA, Angola — In an important symbolic victory, government troops Saturday captured the headquarters of UNITA rebel leader Jonas Savimbi in a central Angolan city, a report said. Savimbi, however, escaped.

The rout of the rebels from the city of Huambo further jeopardized hopes for peace in the war-torn land, where fighting broke out last year only months after a peace accord ended 16 years of civil war.

Huambo, a central highlands city 300 miles southeast of Luanda, has been Savimbi’s headquarters since he rejected the results of multi-party elections in September and reassembled his military.

Rebels retreated there Friday after suffering a defeat earlier in the day in the nearby city of Kuito, said Joao de Matos, chief of staff of the Angolan military.