Namibians taken prisoner in Angola during the raid on Cassinga refugee centre by South African troops in May 1978 are believed to be still being held in a detention camp near Mariental. According to official South African sources about 200 prisoners, including some Angolans, were brought back into Ovamboland after the massacre, of whom 63 were released three weeks later.
A number of the Cassinga victims still being held near Mariental have, it is believed, suffered serious injuries including the loss of hands and fingers, while in detention. Eyewitness accounts speak of cuts and other forms of maiming. 40 of the detainees are believed to have been transferred to Gobabis, but are being held separately from those detained under AG 26.
On 29 April 1979 a body, presumed to be that of a detainee, is known to have been dropped from a helicopter in the Cunene area; the same thing happened between 2 and 4 May. It is not known whether the victims were dead to start with.
For the first time, the SADF in Namibia have announced the deaths of black civilians killed accidentally in security force exchanges with guerillas, following a pattern now well-established in Rhodesia, where hundreds of Africans have in recent years been declared by the regime to have been "killed in crossfire". A statement issued jointly on 18 June by the army and police said that two black civilians had been killed and four wounded south of Tsumeb. Security forces had been informed that a group of farm workers in the area were entertaining two guerillas. When security forces approached the place, some farmworkers tried to flee and ran into security force fire. The statement added that this was the first incident of its kind in the territory (there have since been others).
In a broadcast on Luanda radio on 25 June, SWAPO alleged that South African forces were resorting to "systematic massacre" of civilians, particularly in "security areas".
