The Halloween Massacre refers to events which took place from October 30 to November 1, 1992 in Luanda

Luanda

Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital and largest city of Angola. Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and its administrative center. It has a population of at least 5 million...

, Angola

Angola

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...

 as part of the Angolan Civil War

Angolan Civil War

The Angolan Civil War was a major civil conflict in the Southern African state of Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with some interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. Prior to this, a decolonisation conflict had taken...

.

Context

The Halloween Massacre took place following the 1992 presidential and legislative elections

Angolan presidential election, 1992

General elections were held in Angola on 29 and 30 September 1992 to elect a President and National Assembly, the first time multi-party elections had been held in the country. They followed the signing of the Bicesse Accord on 31 May 1991 in an attempt to end the 17-year long civil war...

, which were the first in the country's history. The government party, the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), claimed victory in these elections. The opposition movement turned political party, UNITA

UNITA

The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought with the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola in the Angolan War for Independence and then against the MPLA in the ensuing civil war .The war was one...

, questioned the fairness of the election. Because neither the government nor UNITA obtained a majority of the vote, a follow-up election was scheduled.

Events

As both sides heightened war rhetoric, the MPLA attacked UNITA positions in Luanda. Fighting ensued, leading to the deaths of many prominent UNITA officials, including Jeremias Chitunda

Jeremias Chitunda

Jeremias Kalandula Chitunda served as the Vice President of UNITA until his assassination in Luanda, as part of the Halloween Massacre shortly after the first round of the presidential election, held on September 29-30...

, Elias Salupeto Pena

Elias Salupeto Pena

Elias Salupeto Pena served as the representative of UNITA, an anti-Communist rebel group that fought against the MPLA in the Angolan Civil War, to the Joint Military and Political Commission...

 and Aliceres Mango

Aliceres Mango

Aliceres Mango was an Angolan politician. The party secretary for the ruling MPLA, he was killed in Luanda during the Halloween Massacre of October-November 1992 during fighting between the MPLA and rebel UNITA.-References:...

, who were pulled from their vehicle and shot dead.

Results

An estimated 10,000 people were killed, mostly of the Ovimbundu

Ovimbundu

The Southern Mbundu, now generally called Ovimbundu , are an ethnic group who lives on the Bié Plateau of central Angola and in the coastal strip west of these highlands. As the largest ethnic group in Angola, they make up almost 40 percent of the country's population...

 and Bakongo ethnic groups. Other estimates, based on church figures, estimate 25,000 to 40,000 UNITA and FNLA supporters were killed.